Hippocrates
by thwarth
Summary: Akane's new job with Dr. Tofu comes with new opportunities including: getting Kasumi to date, mastering Amazon techniques, a dance competition and a trip to China.  On top of that, she has to deal with arrogant doctors, enigmatic masters and...Ranma.
1. Chapter 1

Hippocrates

Chapter 1

"Could you finish up and then file the rest of these charts for me?" Dr. Tofu stood in the doorway leading back to the exam rooms. "Then," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "we can close and really begin to work tonight." He held his breath and waited for the explosion.

Akane looked up with undisguised excitement in her eyes, "Really we're going to start tonight?" Her face fell, "I didn't bring anything I could work in…I guess I could run home, but I know I'll just get trapped there."

"Don't worry about it. I have some scrubs in the back. You can wear those tonight, and just plan on bringing workout clothes from now on." Akane nodded and he continued, "We will be starting with the basics tonight. I have seen you fight and there are a few things we need to correct before we can move forward." She was a little stung by the implication that her martial arts were lacking, but even more overwhelming was the joy she felt at having someone finally take her seriously enough to formally train her. "Dr. Tofu," she said with a quavering voice and shining eyes, "thank you so much. You have no idea how much I needed this."

He nodded sagely at her and turned back to the exam rooms smiling to himself and thinking, actually I do know how much you need this. That's why I offered.

Akane quickly finished up the patient bills for the day then gathered up a stack of manila folders with brightly colored tabs and headed back to the file room. She sorted the pile alphabetically first, and holding the folders in her arms like a stack of books began to slide them in their respective slots. As she put the folders away her eyes lingered on a file that was much thicker than the others, Ranma Satome's. If there was any subject in this world that could distract her from her upcoming training it was her ego driven fiancée.

It had been three weeks since the wedding and four weeks since their return from China. Four weeks since he had said he loved her or so she thought. The intervening week between the miracle at Jusendo and the disaster of the wedding had been the happiest of her life. It was uncontainable. It was the kind of happiness that bubbled up inside of her, made her smile at strangers, and do little skippy dances when no one was looking.

On the boat back from China she should have been furious at having been kidnapped, imprisoned, and her form made into a cursed spring, but she couldn't seem to work up any anger. It didn't matter that she had no clothes, and that Shampoo tried to push her overboard. Ranma loved her and things were going to work out.

Sighing Akane ran her fingers over his file. She really was as stupid as Ranma always claimed. How could she have been idiotic enough to try and marry the man she loved?

Looking back at the last two years of her life she realized that it had been just her. She'd simply loved him for so long. All those times he had reached for her, to save her, and her heart had pounded and she felt like there was a circus of monkeys inside her stomach, it was all just her. She was projecting what she wanted onto him. She had deluded herself into thinking that she was something special to him. He would have rescued anybody who needed his help. She'd seen him do it a million times. It was one of the things that she loved about him. Those feelings were far from returned. He didn't want her. Even if she didn't take into account everything he'd been saying for the last two years the wedding was ample proof.

She had asked him point blank if he loved her and he had denied it. There was no one else around, just the two of them in her bedroom. He hadn't denied it to save face. There wasn't anything to prove. The only reason he could have for saying what he'd said was that he had really meant the words. He didn't love her. The beauty of the day, the elegance of the dress and her happiness had vanished. The bubbly happy feeling that had followed her for a whole week had evaporated like a solitary raindrop on a hot sidewalk. It was just like all the other times, the cheerleading match, and Do-chan. He'd profess his affection and then take it back. He had offered her a gift. Not just a gift, but the only thing she'd wanted for the last two years, the chance to be with him and like always the gift had either been made into a joke or taken back. This time however had been the most painful.

She'd had a whole week to let her guard down—to think things might actually work out. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he had broken her heart. _No_, she thought wryly, he had blended it up, set fire to the goop, and handed her the ashes back with the question, "Do you want to fight?"

Idiot!

She snorted. What kind of clueless guy asks his wedding dress wearing fiancee if she wants to fight?

The kind of guy she would walk through fire for. The kind of guy she was hopelessly in love with. That was the crux of her problem. She had finally figured out what she felt for him only to discover that he didn't feel the same. This left her unsettled and at odds as to how to act around him.

The job from Dr. Tofu and been an answer to a prayer. She worked Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and half day on Saturday. She wasn't around him as much, so she didn't have to see him with his other fiancées. She also didn't have to constantly try to hide or mask what she felt for him if they weren't around each other. While it wasn't the most challenging job it served its purpose by mitigating the pain.

She shut the light off in the file room and briefly rested her head against the cool door frame. Not tonight Akane, she thought, don't do this to yourself tonight. You have training to do. With that she raised her head, squared her shoulders, and went to find Dr. Tofu's scrubs.

Akane was ten minutes late. Ten minutes was nothing. She probably stayed after to talk or something. Ranma looked around the room. No one else seemed to even notice that Akane wasn't back from work yet. His father was busy playing GO with Mr. Tendo. Nabiki was working on finalizing her graduation plans. Kasumi was in the kitchen humming to herself as she got dinner ready. He should go out to the dojo and work out, but he was afraid she might slip upstairs without seeing him. Instead, he settled for running through a kata near the koi pond where he could keep an eye on the door.

Since she had taken this job with Dr. Tofu Ranma found that he was missing her. More often than not he would go to say something and look over at her, but only to find she wasn't there. It was unsettling. For the past two years they had been together. Much of it had been forced, but Akane had never let him down. Absently throwing a rock into the koi pond he scowled at the fish. Why did she need a job anyway? What was wrong with things going back to normal?

In his heart he knew that there would be no _"normal"_ again. There was no way they could go through everything they had been through and not be changed. He was changed. For the past two years he'd gone from crush, to infatuation, to love so gradually that the emotions he had for the blue-haired tomboy snuck up on him with their sheer intensity.

He knew now that he needed her, in fact loved her. It had been something that had been floating around in his brain for a long time, but he never could admit it. Not to himself and especially not to her.

His mind drifted back to China. It had been four weeks since he'd lost her and she'd come back to him. Four weeks since the idiot girl had jumped into his fight, making it the biggest fight of his life. One second she was there telling him to run and the next second she was gone—her clothes being all that was left.

At night when he closed his eyes he could still see those empty robes floating down into his hands. They were still warm when he pressed them to his face and they smelled like her. His stomach clenched at the memory.

He loved her and when she had asked him about it he had denied ever saying it. In truth he hadn't said it, but still. To this day he was still kicking himself about that. He knew that she took it to mean that he didn't love her. There had been pain in her eyes as she had processed what he'd said, and then the shutters had come down.

Damn it!

Hurting Akane was the last thing he wanted to do he just needed a little more time to get used to the idea of loving her so deeply. He needed to make sure that he did things right for once. Akane would forgive him for being a jerk—she always did.

Seventeen minutes, where was she? Ranma wondered. He would give her three more minutes and then he would go and look for her.

Settled on a course of action he stood up and looked up at the darkening sky. It was a good time of day. Things were slowing down, but if he waited much longer it would be completely dark. Akane couldn't be trusted to find her way home safely. Why oh why, did he fall in love with someone who couldn't keep herself out of trouble for five minutes? Screw three minutes he was going to find her now. He bounded up to the roof and set off in the direction of the clinic oblivious to the ringing phone inside the house.

There was no sign of her. He was fairly certain that she did this kind of thing just to irritate him. She knew he worried about her, knew it had been worse since the disaster on Phoenix Mountain. There was a knot in his stomach that was coiling tighter and tighter as he neared the clinic and saw no sign of her. Landing on the clinic roof he could hear voices rising out of the twilight.

"That's it Akane. Now twist. No, not like that, you telegraph the move. It's from the leg. Again. No. That was incorrect. Try it again. No. Again…"

Ranma could make out the forms of Dr. Tofu and Akane in the yard. It looked like he was guiding her through a beginner's kata.

Dr. Tofu was training Akane? What the hell?

He was going to have to ask her about it. Why would she ask Dr. Tofu when she had him? _He_ could show her katas.

"No, Akane it's like this." Dr. Tofu demonstrated the move. "Look, I know that you had to fight off all those boys everyday, and for fighting more than one opponent what you are doing is correct. We are not in that situation presently, so the way you are coming at me is wrong."

Akane blew the sweaty hair out of her eyes. When Dr. Tofu said he had a few things he wanted to work on she didn't realize that he would be going back to the beginning. It was embarrassing and her pride was smarting. To make matters worse she wasn't even performing the beginning moves to his standards.

"You lift your leg up using these muscles here on the outside of your leg. They are called the abductors; I would like you to start learning the muscles of the body. As I instruct you in new moves you will know exactly how a move should be performed based on the muscle set I ask you to use."

Akane nodded and felt a smile rise to her lips. He was taking her seriously. Dr. Tofu wasn't going to disappoint. He would help her become better. Lifting her leg she attempted the move again and again she fell off balance.

"What am I doing wrong?" The frustration was evident in her voice.

"You are lifting your leg from your hip and that puts you out of line for the kick and knocks you off balance for the transition."

Ranma listened eagerly. Usually he was just shown a move and practiced it over and over until he got it. Rarely did Ranma think of the anatomy of how a move was to be done. It was interesting to hear Dr. Tofu explain about muscle dynamics. Maybe it would be worth it to learn the muscles, it might change the way he thought about certain moves. If he could see what groups of muscles were being used by an opponent then perhaps there would be a weak spot he could exploit. This would definitely call for further investigation. Leaning in even closer he watched Tofu lift her leg rotating it slightly.

"When you throw a kick like this," he said, turning her leg slightly outward, "you put more power into it allowing you to disable an opponent, but it takes your body a split second longer to move out of this position. That's why it's ideal for multiple opponents because your next attack will likely come from another direction. _But, _if you throw a kick in this position," He subtly turned her leg inward, "your body is able to recover more quickly so that your defense is in place for the counter attack."

Akane was absorbing everything. This was the kind of stuff that Ranma knew by instinct. Knowing that there was a chance she might be able to learn these kinds of subtleties lit a fire in her. She might be able to _learn_ the things that came naturally to Ranma. Thrilled at the way her training was going she tried to squelch the rising frustration she was feeling at her inability to do the moves correctly. Theory was good. It was very good but in martial arts it really only served you so far.

"Come on, Akane, Ranma would already have this down." she muttered.

Dr. Tofu heard her and chose to ignore the comment for now. Again and again she tried to execute the kick from the proper muscles, but her body seemed to be on autopilot and again and again she failed. Her mental comparisons to her fiancée weren't helping matters. They only served to feed the frustrations and her movements became jerkier and less fluid.

"Ok, I think that is enough for now." Dr. Tofu said, eyeing his new student thoughtfully. "Can I ask you a question? Why did you accept my offer of training?"

Akane thought about it. A million things ran through her mind. She wanted to avoid Ranma. She wanted to kick Shampoo's butt for threatening to kill her when she was a helpless doll. However, Akane knew that neither of those answers were going to fly. Why _did_ she accept?

I love martial arts. I have trained my whole life. I thought I was pretty good. It was when I was fighting off all those guys that Ranma showed up. When I first met him he was in his girl form and I offered to be his friend and asked him if he wanted to spar in the dojo. There was never any contest. His skill was just eons ahead of mine. After we sparred I was so excited thinking I had a friend who could help me pick up where Daddy left off, but something happened," she blushed, "and before I knew it we were engaged and at each other's throats."

"What happened?" Tofu asked. He had always known that Ranma and Akane had gotten off on the wrong foot, but he never knew exactly why.

"Um….well. I walked in on him in the bath, but it wasn't my fault. I didn't know that he was going to turn into a boy when he got in the bath. I thought he was a girl. I mean, we were in the dojo that whole time and he could have told me or warned me or something. When I went into the bathroom I was expecting a girl to be in there." She ground to a halt, looking at Dr. Tofu with pleading eyes. Glancing away she said in bitter tones, "He didn't have to look at me so long."

A lightbulb went on in Dr. Tofu's brain. He could suddenly see the situation in his mind's eye. A naked Akane walking into the furo to bathe with her new friend, only to find a strange naked boy ogling her. He chuckled to himself as he thought of the terminally awkward, male teen's reaction to seeing Akane au naturale. A small play of Akane's various reactions was performed in his brain, all of them ending in severe pain for Ranma.

Finally he said, "And how did you react?"

Akane could feel the heat from her face reflecting off the side of the clinic. In a small voice she replied, "I tried to smash him with a piece of some statue in the yard."

"Did you ever try to talk to him about it? I mean you did walk in on him. If he had said something to you in the dojo would you have believed him?" Dr. Tofu asked reasonably.

Akane shook her head and looked away again. "After I had time to think about things I realized it wasn't his fault, but what do you say? Besides peeping on me had nothing to do with the huge jerk he was after. That he did all by himself." She added as a justification.

Dr. Tofu raised his eyebrows. That was a pretty big Matzo ball to have hanging over their heads for two years.

"I thought I was going to have someone to help me improve my skills, but after everything was said and done Ranma decided that watching me work out in the dojo would be the extent of his willingness to help. He made a lot of jokes about my speed and strength, and never really took me seriously as a martial artist. Then more and more crazy people started showing up and I was able to see how good he was. He's a freak! Normal people don't learn techniques the way he does. I ended up following him around and soon I wasn't fighting as much. I was just watching Ranma. It was ok for a while because most of the fights were his anyway, but I guess I got sloppy and lazy about things. I knew that Ranma would always be there to fight, and he always was. But…I…things inside of me have changed. I don't want to watch on the sidelines anymore. I know that realistically I probably won't ever reach Ranma's level, but at the same time I don't want him to feel like he needs to protect me all the time. I want to protect me again," finishing her statement a little awkwardly, but with passion and conviction.

It was the response he was looking for.

"Don't you wonder why I offered to train you?" Tofu asked, remembering that he'd spotted Ranma on the roof earlier. He was probably still up there listening in on their conversation. While Tofu didn't mind Ranma listening to Akane spill her guts he wasn't about to do the same.

"Let's go inside and get a drink, I have an important story to tell you."

With that they dusted off their clothes, cleaned up the yard and headed inside. Akane's stomach was rumbling and she had a ton of homework, but nothing could make her leave the clinic without hearing Dr. Tofu's story.

"Damn," Ranma cursed, "just when things were getting interesting."

He sat back from the eve of the roof to think over the things he had heard. In his heart Ranma had always been a little bitter that Akane had offered her friendship and then turned on him the minute she found out he was a boy. He had never even considered that Akane might be excited for a new friend that shared her interests. It never entered his thought processes that Akane might have been just as lonely as he had been on that fateful rainy day. He hadn't been _exactly_ nice to her. After seeing all those jerks attack her the next day at school he understood how she could have overreacted to him seeing her naked.

A small corner of his brain then replaced the term "seeing" with "taking a long hard look at the gorgeous, naked girl in front of him." It was the same part of his brain that he did his best to ignore, because it made his justifications seem inadequate. She was right. He had been a super jerk afterwards. but like Akane said, "What do you say?" Although knowing him, anything he could have said would have only made things worse. He smiled when he heard Akane say his martial arts abilities were freakish. It was nice to have someone think that about his abilities instead of his body. It was even nicer that it was Akane.

He didn't understand this need of hers to train. She was still recovering form her ordeal in China. She needed to take it easy. He was planning on sticking around her until she was back to her old self. What was wrong with depending on him? Needing him? Of course she needed him. To save her, to defend her, and to jump in the middle of things because… the thought of her not needing him was too depressing to consider. If she didn't need him to protect her then he had nothing to offer her. Was that why he never offered to do more than watch her train? He shoved the uncomfortable thoughts into the part of his brain he tried to ignore.

"Oh man, it's getting cold. I hope Dr. Tofu's story is short because I am starving." He muttered to himself and settled down on the least windy patch of roof he could find.

Akane and Dr. Tofu walked down the narrow hallway of the clinic to the back where there was a little kitchen. He put some water on to boil and fussed around with the things he needed for tea. It was a lame attempt to delay the inevitable. His hands were shaking slightly as he carried the tea tray to the table. Drawing things out he slowly served the tea. Come on, he thought, this is why you offered to train her. You help her and she helps you. Checking that all the windows were closed tight, he took a deep breath and began his story.

"I know that you may find this hard to believe, but I am in love with Kasumi." He waited for an astonished outburst from her, but was only met with silence.

Akane looked at him and blinked twice. Looking down at her tea she raised a very confused face to the nervous man in front of her. Did he think this was _news_? Should she fake some kind of reaction?

"Um….No, Dr. Tofu I don't find that hard to believe at all," she finished searching his face for a clue as to what kind of response to give him.

Akane's lack of surprise as he confessed his love for her older sister, quite effectively, pulled the rug out from under him.

"You already knew?"

Smiling with gentle exasperation Akane said, "Oh Dr. Tofu, everyone knows…except Kasumi."

"That's not true. She knows. I proposed to her and she refused me."

"WHAT!"

Lulled into a false sense of security Dr. Tofu was completely unprepared for Akane's outburst. The sheer volume of the screech knocked him back a few feet and if his ears weren't ringing he would have sworn he could hear his neighbor's dog howling.

"_You_ proposed to Kasumi? You _proposed_ to Kasumi? You proposed to _Kasumi_?"

All the poor doctor could do was nod his head dumbly. Why was it so unbelievable that he could do it?

"When? What did she say?"

"About three years ago, shortly after her 18theighteenth birthday, she refused me."

"Wha…" was all Akane could come up with. So great was her agitation at hearing that Kasumi had refused Dr. Tofu's proposal of marriage that she got up and begin to pace around the room. How was it possible that she didn't know anything about this? He said Kasumi had said no. She had always thought that Kasumi liked Dr. Tofu. Why would she refuse?

"Please sit down, Akane, you are making me more nervous."

"All these years," she was muttering to herself. "How could I not have known? I mean, it's Kasumi. I thought she would tell us these things."

"Please, Akane, hear me out."

Akane looked down at the hand that was pulling her back towards the table. Dr. Tofu had such a look of helpless desperation that she quieted her inner dialogue and listened to the poor man.

"I proposed to Kasumi three years ago. She said that it was flattering, but she couldn't possibly leave her family. She didn't say it would never happen, but the timing wasn't right. There was no possible way she could leave her father in the care of her two younger sisters. Kasumi felt that if she were to marry and leave, the fragile glue that was holding her family together would dissolve. She chose duty over love. I was heartbroken. I tried every way I could to convince her that the two weren't mutually exclusive, but she wouldn't listen. I felt awkward and unsure of myself around her. Not to mention how painful it was, so I hid my pain in stupidity. Every time she came around I would act silly and incoherent so that she wouldn't see that my soul had been rent in two. It became par the course for me to act out around her. I was lovesick but not in the way everyone thought. Finally after a year of the same old routine I needed a change so I left. I traveled, trained and collected books and scrolls that would make me a better doctor and a better man. Three months ago I got a letter from Kasumi saying she missed me and wondering when I would return. I high-tailed it back here only to discover…" he trailed off and started to blush like a little boy. It was funny really and if Akane hadn't been so confused she would have laughed at the sight.

Leaning in close to the doctor she asked breathlessly, "What, what did you discover?"

Squinting up at the overhead lights he said sheepishly, "Have you ever heard of Ivan Pavlov?"

For the second time that night Akane blinked twice as she tried to process this out of the blue comment. Pavlov? That did sound familiar. Her brain raced over her classes and homework until it arrived at an association, Pavlov's dogs. The dogs were classically conditioned. Her mind began to put two and two together.

"Dr. Tofu are you telling me that you have classically conditioned yourself to be a moron?"

"Well I wouldn't put it in those terms exactly…."

"What kind of terms would you put them in? You act completely insane whenever my sister is around."

He nodded glumly. "The worst part is that her letter implied that the timing might be better now, and I can't even find out because I act like an imbecile whenever she comes in the room. Everything I want is right in front of me, but I'm too much of a fool to be able to reach out and take it." There was such self derision in his tone that Akane laid a comforting hand on his sleeve. "I would appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone else. It's embarrassing enough without having all my patients know."

"Don't worry, Dr. Tofu, we'll find a way around this. If Kasumi asked you to come back I don't think your hopes will be dashed this time. We just need to overcome your _little problem_." She said the last part in a tone that downplayed the seriousness of it. Dr. Tofu was instantly reminded of a Viagra commercial that he had once seen. If only his problem was so easy to fix.

"I have to confess, Akane that is one of the reasons I asked you to come work and train with me. I was hoping you could help me."

"Dr. Tofu, I would have helped you no matter what. You didn't have to give me a job."

"I said it was _one_ of the reasons I offered you a job. The other reason is I saw the look on your face the day of your wedding. You looked just like me three years ago. I didn't want you to have to live through a painful year before things started to change. I know what you are going through and I wanted to help you."

Akane blushed and looked away. Apparently her feeling for Ranma weren't as well concealed as she thought, but none of that mattered. What mattered was that he didn't want her. Tears welled up in her eyes as the thought played over and over in her head. She wouldn't cry in front of Dr. Tofu. It wouldn't change anything. She lifted her chin in an unconscious act of defiance against her own emotions.

"Your offer was perfect timing and I am so grateful for the job and training, but if you hadn't offered. I would have found another way to change things. I meant what I said when we were training. I won't only rely on Ranma's abilities any longer"

Dr. Tofu took a second to admire the fire in her eyes. She was a tough girl. "Well, I think I've taken enough of your time tonight. You should probably head home. I hope they aren't holding dinner for you. I've some things I want you to take home" With that he stood to retrieve the items.

"I called to tell them I would be late." She turned to gather her things. "I'll just wear these clothes home, wash them and bring them back with me next time," she said raising her voice so he could hear her down the hall. With the last of her things in her hands she looked around the room for the doctor. He came into the room with two books in his hands. He handed her the first one it was large and thick and to Akane it looked a little foreboding, _Netter's Guide to Human Anatomy_.

"I meant what I said about learning the muscle groups. When you have those underway I want you to review the immune system of the human body as well." _Human Immunology_ was placed in her hands doubling the weight she was carrying. It was going to be a long walk home.

"Uh..thanks for everything Dr. Tofu, I'll see you in a couple of days. Ok?"

"One more thing Akane, you accept me as your teacher and master now don't you?" She nodded shifting the weight of the books to her hip. "Good, I am going to give you an at home training exercise."

She nodded again trying to figure out the best way to carry the blasted books. They kept sliding down her hip. They were large and cumbersome and it was hard to get a good hold on them, so focused on the books was she that she almost missed Dr. Tofu's at home training.

"I want you to stop hitting Ranma."

The books clattered to the floor and Dr. Tofu winced slightly as the weight of the pages pulled at the spines. He bent down and picked them up for her.

"What?"

"I want you to stop hitting Ranma. You need to get a firm grip on your temper. He seems to rule your actions even when he isn't around. I want you to stop competing with him."

"I don't understand how not hitting him will change anything. He will still be a super jerk to me." She said a little desperately. Didn't Dr. Tofu know that hitting him was her best defense? If she pounded him out of the area she didn't have to endure his stinging remarks or watch him with the other girls. It was the best plan she had.

It was as if Dr. Tofu was reading her mind. "You're going to have to come up with a new strategy if you want to continue training with me." He said softly. "Akane, has it ever worked? In the end did your plan get you what you wanted?"

She looked down at the books in her hands. Absently she rubbed her thumbs over the embossed lettering as she tried to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. It was bad enough to admit to herself that she didn't measure up, but it was five times more painful to admit that most of the reason she didn't was probably her own fault. She shook her head, not trusting her voice. No her plan hadn't worked. If anything it had backfired.

"Akane," he continued, "it's time for a change."

All she could do was nod again. Not looking up she said, "I'll do it, but I really need to go now."

He walked her to the door and let her out. Watching as she walked down the street, a shadowy figure emerged from the roof and slowly followed the girl home.

Wryly he said to the figure. "If you can't make it work after this, Ranma, you don't deserve her.


	2. Chapter 2

Hippocrates

Chapter 2

It was dark, Akane was trying to hurry home. She had her bag, her work clothes she was trying to keep from rumpling, and the two unwieldy books. It was almost impossible to juggle all three: she didn't want to wrinkle her work clothes, but it looked there was no other choice if she wanted to make it home. Setting the books down she folded her clothes as best she could and placed them carefully in her bag, sighing at the thought of having to re-iron her clothes she shot the books a dirty look.

Who reads books like this? she pouted in her head. Dr. Tofu was out of his mind if he thought she was going to read these books all the way through. Weren't there cliff notes for this kind of thing? What on earth did immunology have to do with martial arts? If she didn't trust the doctor to help her she really would have thought he was crazy. She gave another sigh, resigning herself and setting her determination, she would do whatever it took to perfect her art.

As she was about to reach down and collect the books she sensed something behind her. Throwing a lightening fast kick she felt her foot brush against something.

"Woah, Akane it's me!" Ranma said, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace.

Akane just stood there in the darkness. She had done it. She thrown the kick correctly. She felt the difference that Dr. Tofu had been trying to show her before.

"Did you see that?" she asked excitedly, "Did you see my kick?"

Ranma couldn't help but smile. He saw the kick not only had she done it correctly, but she's done it quickly grazing his shirt. If he shared in her excitement that would mean admitting he knew why she was excited, and that would mean admitting he'd watched her train and eavesdropped on her conversation with the doctor. Something he was utterly unwilling to do.

Thanking the universe for the darkness that hid his smile from the brown eyed girl he opened his mouth in an attempt to cover up his reaction.

"Yeah, I saw the kick. It was definitely slow enough to see."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"How many times and in how many ways do I have to tell you? You're slow. I'm beginning to think in more ways then one."

"Why you..." Akane growled balling up her fists. What was his problem tonight? She hadn't even done anything yet and he was already picking a fight.

He quickly took a step back before she could hit him. He wanted to have a conversation before he got pounded for the slow comment. Deciding a diversionary tactic would be the best way to defuse the girl that was slowly lighting up like a Roman Candle he switched topics.

"What were you doin' so late at Dr. Tofu's anyway?" he said trying to keep his voice deceptively casual.

"What do you care?" she huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't!" he shot back. He felt a rising bubble of annoyance inside. It irritated him she was spending so much time with someone else. Time in the day and idle conversation that used to be his now, belonged to the Doctor and old people with arthritis and he didn't like it.

Anyone who watched Akane could see that she wasn't in love with Tofu anymore, but something inside of him didn't like the thought of her smiles wasted on patients that wouldn't appreciate them like he did. Why didn't she just give him a straight answer? Why did everything have to be a fight? Why didn't she tell him she wanted to work on her form? The girl lived at a freakn' dojo surrounded by martial artists there was no reason for her to run through katas in the dark side yard of the clinic when she had him at home. Her lack of a straight answer only irritated him more. All he wanted was some honest answers. It wasn't like Akane to be deceptive. The bubble was rising higher and higher and he was mentally preparing himself for a battle royale. Stupid Akane, this wouldn't have happened if she wasn't so stubborn.

"If you must know-we were training." Akane looked away. Even though it was dark she didn't want to see his face when he asked her why the Doctor would waste his time training a clumsy girl like her.

Ranama's anger deflated like an empty balloon.

"Why are you bugging him about training you?"

"I didn't bug him, he offered," she said, thinking she'd dodged a rather painful insult.

"I wonder why," he mused, "you'd think by the end of the day he'd be sick of being around a wildebeast like you." He eyed her sideways so he could gauge her reaction.

Akane glared at the boy apparently she had gotten ahead of herself. She had no idea why Ranma was going out of his way to be a jerk tonight. Akane prepared to punt him into the next city when she remembered her promise to Dr. Tofu earlier.

Just great, she thought, I barely lasted 10 minutes without wanting to smash his face.

Since she couldn't remove Ranma from the vicinity she decided to remove herself instead. Without retorting she bent down and grabbed her things ready to bolt, but she was seriously hampered by those cumbersome books. She turned on her heel to get away as quickly as circumstances would permit when a strong, rough hand clamped down on her shoulder almost causing her to lose her grip on the books.

"Hey, we were having a conversation and last time I checked it's impolite to leave in the middle," said the voice attached to the hand.

"What would you know about being polite?" she snorted.

"Obviously more than you."

She could hear the smirk in his voice and she wanted to hit him hard enough to erase it.

"I'm leaving," she said flatly. Shrugging off his hand she continued on her way home.

He followed her quietly watching her struggle with the books as she passed in and out of the streetlights. He hadn't meant to be so mean, but inside Ranma was worried. When he was worried he lashed out at the people he was worried about. Tonight that person was Akane. He was bothered about what he heard on the roof. That she was changing; that she didn't want or need him; that she would rather depend on Tofu than him. He was mentally kicking himself: he hadn't even gotten any information out of her, all they had done was exchange insults. He didn't know why she was training with Tofu. He had to find a way to start another conversation. He was just working on another approach when her voice floated back to him.

"You know, a _polite _person would offer to help."

He smiled and caught up to where she was. "You just said I didn't know anything about being polite."

"You don't, you big jerk," she didn't make eye contact and merely kept walking.

Not one to be blown off easily he fell back on his old habit of getting her attention via insult. "I may be a jerk, but with your yeti like strength I wouldn't think two little books would give you such trouble."

"It's just awkward balancing my books and bag; it has nothing to do with strength." With as much dignity as she could muster given the current topic of conversation, she added, "Like you know anything about yetis anyway."

"Hey, I know stuff about yetis. They live where it snows and they eat yaks and stuff. With a little more hair on your body you could pass for a small yeti. You have the same dumb expression I've seen in drawings."

No dumber than yours, she thought.

"Yeah," he said continuing on in the same vein, "I could totally see you taking down a yak with your bare hands."

Akane ignored his comments. Did Dr. Tofu really know what he was asking? People like this deserved to be hit.

"I'm just wondering why you're favoring me with original material," she drawled a little too much like Nabiki for Ranma's liking. "Usually you save this kind stuff for special occasions like my birthday."

He shrugged off the heavy sarcasm. He was pleased she'd noticed his insults were new thanks to the late night special on Bigfoot. Not wanting to fall into the same trap as before he steered the conversation back to Dr. Tofu. "You really shouldn't be bothering Dr. Tofu with training."

Akane's eye begin to twitch. Sometimes having a conversation with Ranma was like riding the bumpercars– lots of starts, lots of stops and a slightly nauseous feeling afterwards.

"I already told you," she ground out between tightly clenched teeth, "he offered to train me. _He offered_."

Ranma was momentarily distracted at her ability to annunciate without moving her jaw.

"Well, I mean, katas are only part of training," he said reaching up behind his head nervously, "he's not going to really work on combat techniques with you, right? I can't see Dr. Tofu hitting the sister of the girl he's madly in love with. That's not going to score him any points with Kasumi."

Akane shrugged, "I don't know what he's got planned."

Ranma took a few steps closer to Akane and took the books out of her hands. He could see her face illuminated by the nearby streetlight. Her skin looked so soft.

"Why him, Akane? I can show you katas."

The words came out softer and deeper than his ususal voice. Akane was suddenly aware of how close Ranma was, and that he was looking at her with his ocean eyes. Then she saw it. That flash of vulnerability that made it impossible to deny him anything. Ranma the jerk she could deal with; Ranma the arrogant she could blow off; but Ranma the vulnerable, she just wanted to wrap him in her arms until he had absorbed some of her strength and could go back to being jerky and arrogant. She knew that Ranma dealt with the world mouth first, fists second and emotions third. She loved it when he displayed a softer side, but she also knew that it wasn't the side the world was meant to see.

She was vaguely aware that he was waiting for some kind of response from her.

"Why not me?" There it was again, that flash of vulnerability, it was all she could do not to throw her arms around his neck.

Embarrassed by her train of thought she blurted out the first thing that came to mind that had nothing to do with hugging Ranma.

"He offered."

"You've said quite a few times now. So if Kuno had offered to train you, you'd have spent a cozy couple of hours with _him_ tonight?" his words came out a little more brittle then he wanted.

"Don't be stupid. I want _good_ training."

"Why does it have to be Dr. Tofu?"

"Who else is there? Uyko? Shampoo? I can't see them making any real effort to help me out. Ryoga? He'd help me, but I can't count on him to stick around long enough to make any real progress."

"Ryoga! You'd pick Ryoga over me to help train you?"

"I didn't think you would help."

"Why would you think that? If you really needed help I'd help you."

"Oh yeah? What about all the times I've asked you to spar with me and all you did was dodge?

Is that your version of help? Am I a better martial artist now?"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm trying to be nice here," he seethed, his voice was rising with every exchange until he was practically yelling.

"Oh THIS is your definition of nice? Yelling at me for wanting to get better?" her voice matching him in volume and tenor. They were now standing toe to toe and Akane was craning her neck to shout into his face. If he hadn't had the books in his hands he would have taken her by the shoulders and shaken her for her stupidity.

"No you idiot girl, I am offering to train you!" He shouted into the stunned face of the girl before him.

"What?" she asked slowly in confused disbelief...

It was like some fantasy come to life. Ranma was offering to spend time with her, training her. Thoughts of hugging the man in front of her popped back into her brain. This is what she'd always wanted. The chance to prove that they really could be _partners_ in the dojo. That with a little work she could be good as any of his other fiancees.

"Really, you would train me and work with me and _hit_ me? her voice dropped as she said the last part and Ranma not realizing the magnituded of his words quickly backpedaled.

"I got time to show you katas. I can help you with your form. I'd train you the same way I saw the doc trainin' you tonight. You don't need to go to Tofu when you've got the best right here."

All Tofu did with her was run through the basics. Ranma didn't agree to hit her. He was being as evasive now as he ever was in the dojo. Still, even with him showing her the basics he was offering her a chance to one up the other fiancees and that was something to be considered.

Her heart fluttered in excitement, but her brain took the opportunity to stomp her heart back in place. This was the exact kind of crazy ride she was trying to get off of. The rise of anticipation, the crash of disappointment, and the pain of discouragement all of which were present whenever doing anything with Ranma. She was trying to escape the cycle of unfulfilled hopes. If there was anything she'd learned it was that nothing with Ranma ever turned out the way she expected. Even so, her heart pointed out, that sometimes it wasn't all bad. She thought of the walk home from Ryugenzawa and Ranma actually wanting to hold her hand.

Her brain knowing that it was about to lose the battle to her heart, grasped at straws. Holding hands hardly constituted a committed, romantic move for Ranma: he held her hand in the cursed tunnel of lost love and that certainly wasn't a romantic experience. What had he said, "when you've got the best right here?" Slowly her rational thought exerted its superiority over her emotions. It had nothing to do with trying to spend time with her; his ego was hurt because she'd turned to someone else, his ego not his heart.

"Why do you want me to stop training with Tofu and start training with you. How do I know you will take me seriously?" she eyed him suspiciously for some ulterior motive. It was a fruitless move as it was very hard to see his face in the dark.

"Akane, if there's anyone on this earth that can whip your big butt back into shape, it's me."

Akane looked into his blue eyes full of confidence that she wouldn't refuse his answer. A huge part of her didn't want to, but the training she needed had nothing to do with being out of shape. It was training that Ranma really couldn't help her with.

"No, I can't do that."

"What do you mean you can't? Just tell him you've changed your mind. Feh, girls do that kind of stuff all the time." he said flippantly waving his had aimlessly in the air.

"It's not just the martial arts, Dr. Tofu needs my help and I promised to help him."

Ranma couldn't believe his ears. Akane had refused to train with him. After all the nagging and begging she'd done. After all the fights they'd gotten in over this very subject she was saying no. She'd rather train with the damn doctor. Ranma felt a surge of bitterness towards a man who he had always rather liked.

"Akane, what could you possibly be able to help Dr. Tofu with?" His anger at her rejection of his training made him a little more vindictive than usual.

Akane felt her temper flare at his acrid tone and tried unsuccessfully to tamp it down.

"Don't hold back, Ranma," she spat out, "tell me what you _really_ think of me." With that she placed her hands on the books he was holding defensively against his chest and gave a mighty shove. Without waiting to see if he fell over she fled into the darkness.

Ranma watched her go, feeling like the jerk she always said he was. "Geeze Akane, I didn't mean that the way it sounded," but he was addressing empty air. The shove had done nothing but make him take a few steps back, she might as well sucker punched him. It was enough that he didn't stop her from leaving. Ranma cursed in the darkness. Could things get any worse?

Of course they could, he thought, feeling his chest tighten.

The dumb girl, Akane had chosen to train with Dr. Tofu instead of him. She claimed she didn't didn't need to depend on him anymore. Well he wasn't going to stand for it. He'd prove that she needed him. He'd sit back and let her take care of things herself. That would show her. Starting tomorrow he'd let her handle all her problems by herself. By tomorrow night she would be crawling back to him, begging him to train her. He could picture it now...

"_Oh please, Ranma you are so manly and strong. I made a mistake, please, please teach me and protect me. I was so wrong. You are the only one that can keep me safe,"_ _sobbed a kneeling Akane clutching pitifully at the hem of his pants._

"_I'll forgive you this time Akane, but you owe me," his hand benevolently resting on her bowed head._

"_Oh Ranma, I'll do anything just don't cast me aside,"_ _her hands were clasped tightly across her chest and her eyes were swimming with unshed tears and gratitude_.

Shooting a triumphant grin to the sky, he hurried after the girl anxious to put his plan into action.

Author's notes:

Thank you for the kind reviews. It made me crank out this chapter faster than I thought possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Hippocrates

Chapter 3

Akane felt terrible. Rolling over, she shut off her alarm. Closing her mouth, she almost gagged at the film she could feel on her teeth. Mentally vowing never to drink if this is what "hungover" felt like, Akane sat on the edge of her bed and contemplated if she really wanted to be up this early. All night her brain was filled with images of Dr. Tofu and Kasumi as it mulled over her problem of bringing them together. It was what she fell asleep thinking about and it was the first thing on her mind this morning. In fact, she wasn't sure if her neurons ever quit firing.

Could a person be hungover from too much thinking? she mused.

Raising her elbows to rest on her knees, she rested her head in her hands and thought about falling back asleep, but her arm and back muscles twinged and she remembered her training with Dr. Tofu. She highly doubted her training would have left her feeling this drained. Her conversation with Ranma came back to her and it caused her to wonder if feeling crappy was a side-effect of repressed anger. Except that she didn't feel angry anymore. Actually, she was quite pleased with how well she had acquitted herself with the Doctor's challenge last night. Sure she shoved him, but technically a shove wasn't a hit. In the end she had to run away to keep her word, but she'd kept it and that was a victory in her book.

Stifling a yawn and wiping the goobies out of her eyes, she slowly stood up and stretched. Her muscles ached with the kind of ache that caused her to smile. Running her tongue over her teeth she decided the first thing she needed to do was brush her teeth and then take her jog and see if she could sort out anything her subconscious came up with in the night. Changing into her jogging clothes, she opened the door and promptly tripped on two huge books lying on the floor. Catching herself before she put a hole in the wall, she turned and cussed quietly.

"Honestly," she muttered to herself and picked up the books. At least he remembered to bring them home. As she set them on her desk a paper tucked into the top book caught her eye. She pulled it out and looked at it. There was one sloppy word on it - _sorry_. Shaking her head she thought, the boy really does make it hard to stay mad. Turning off her light she quietly left her room and headed downstairs for her jog.

Ranma heard her trip over the books and winced from the safety of his futon. Maybe leaving them right in front of the door wasn't as great of an idea as he thought. Last night when he got home he discovered that Akane had taken her dinner up to her room and locked the door. She even locked her window and closed the curtains. Ranma was sure that if she'd had a rabid wolverine she would have chained it outside her door as an extra measure of privacy. Obviously she was still mad. He did find it a little surprising that he hadn't been wacked into next week, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? Not knowing what else to do he left the books in front of her door, but not without examining them first. It appeared Dr. Tofu was serious about Akane learning the muscles. He looked at the diagrams, trying to sound out the Latin names for the muscles. After a moment he gave up. The light wasn't that great in the hallway and he was tired. Hearing Akane crash into the wall assured Ranma that she got the books and that meant that she got the note as well. Perhaps the walk to school wouldn't be as awkward as he'd feared last night.

Taking a deep breath of the morning air through her mouth Akane savored the cold air filling her lungs and the minty freshness of her newly cleaned teeth. She drew another deep breath, this one through her nose, and the air smelled like wet grass and wet pavement two of her favorite smells. Today was going to be a good run: she could feel it. Akane cherished her morning run because it gave her time to think, but lately all she'd been thinking about was her tangled up problems with Ranma. Having no solution to the absurdity that her life had woven itself into, her runs had suffered. Her feet felt like lead and every morning she dragged herself into the dojo's yard tired and unrefreshed. Today she needed the time to plan her strategy for Tofu and Kasumi. The first thing would be to approach Kasumi and flesh out her feelings for the doctor in question. Akane thought about striking up a conversation while helping Kasumi with dinner, but quickly scratched that idea. Kasumi would be too worried about keeping Akane from obliterating the kitchen to focus on the talk. No, Akane thought, attempts at cooking and conversation never turned out well for her. Perhaps when Kasumi was doing the laundry—that would be a much more conducive time. She would butter Kasumi up by mating socks and then she would subtly steer the conversation to Dr. Tofu. She would drop hints about what a strapping example of manhood he was, and somewhere between folding dishrags and towels Kasumi would rediscover her deep and abiding passion for the handsome doctor. It would work out perfectly. Akane looked up in surprise as she found herself outside the dojo gates. For the first time in three weeks her run felt good. She smiled at the rising sun and went inside to get cleaned up for the day.

Ranma's face broke into a grin when he saw Akane smile. She looked good after her run today. Every morning for the last few weeks she had looked tired and winded after her run, and it worried him that her body was still recovering from the effects of being shrunk down to the size of a doll. He'd made the mistake of bringing it up once and promptly got his head bit off. Today she looked liked she was bouncing back and he grinned again at the thought of having the old Akane back; the one that had been missing for the last few weeks. He missed his hellcat of a fiancée.

His pop wasn't up yet so Ranma kept running through his morning workout without the sparring. As his body moved faster and faster so did his mind. Today was the day he was going to abandon Akane to outside forces. That would mean sticking extra close to her, especially if he was going to take advantage of any opportunity to rescue her that came up. If he was lucky, something would happen on the way to school and he could have everything taken care of by lunch. It should be fairly simple: proving he was a necessity in her life. Just then, his pop burst out of the second story window and his thoughts were turned in another, less complicated direction.

The walk to school wasn't awkward, just quiet. Ranma kept his eyes and ears open for any surprises and Akane was having second thoughts about refusing Ranma's training.

"Did you mean what you said last night about spending time with me…er…training I mean?" she asked quietly. Hoping for some kind of answer that would reflect her own feelings about spending time with him.

Turning slowly the pigtailed boy couldn't help but look a little smug. He crouched down on the fence and faced the girl who had stopped walking and was staring intently at her shoes.

This was too good to be true, he thought.

He thought he was going to have to do something drastic and first thing this morning she was coming to him, ready to apologize. After she made him crazy last night there was no way he was going to let her off easy.

"Why are you askin'?"

"I just wanted to know if you meant it. That's all." Her face was still pointed to the ground and her hands played nervously behind her back with her bag.

"Look, Akane if you want to tell me that you've changed your mind just come right out and say it. There's no reason to try to be coy. You're really not cute enough to pull that kind of thing off." His hands were hanging loosely in front of him as he balanced on his toes on the fence.

She looked up and narrowed her eyes. The boy crouched in front of her was looking so self-satisfied. Akane hated herself for even trying to get him to admit some feeling for her. This kind of conversation was so predictable between the two of them. Why was she even trying anymore?

"Ranma, you are such a jerk. I don't know of a single person on this planet that is as clueless as you are!" Akane shot out.

His feelings quickly went from superior to confused. What was she talking about? he wondered. They were talking about training, right? He reached down to grip the fence with two hands. The last thing he wanted was to take a dip in the canal. A portion of his brain registered that he had just been called clueless by Akane. There were many insults he could take from her, but clueless wasn't one of them. That insult chaffed.

"Clueless? Me? Clueless?" his voice was heavy with disbelief and sarcasm. This was too much. He took his hands off the fence and did his best impression of Akane holding and cuddling P-chan.

In a sickeningly high falsetto he crooned, "Oh P-chan, you are the best little piggy in the world. Don't mind that big bad Ranma he's just clueless. In the meantime let's go upstairs to my room where Ranma's not there to _point out the obvious_." The last part of his statement was said in his regular voice so that the sarcasm could not be missed.

Akane took advantage of the fact that Ranma had let go of the fence. She threw a kick to the pole he was balancing on. It was strong enough to pop the pole out of the vertical support and the bar swung out dangerously over the canal. Ranma's arms pinwheeled for a moment and then he slid off the pole like books off a tilted shelf. With a splash he landed in the water and came up spluttering.

"Damn it, Akane, I wanted to stay dry today!" she yelled from below.

"You should have left P-chan out of things," Akane shot back.

"You should stop acting so uncute and figure things out!" she bellowed, climbing out of the canal.

Akane balked at what Ranma was saying.

"What _exactly_ am I supposed to figure out? I'm not the one with girls chasing me right and left. You know they wouldn't be chasing you if you just made a choice."

"Why, are you hoping it's you? Cause I got news for you. Short-tempered, ornery girls just don't do anything for me." The readhead glared up at the girl. Ranma hated having arguments with Akane while he was female, simply because it took away his height advantage.

"You are unbelievable, you know that," Akane bit out, "You think I don't know how you feel? Is this your way of rubbing things in?"

Ranma was so angry. He couldn't decide who he was more angry at; himself for thinking Akane was actually going to apologize, or Akane for turning this argument around on him when she was the one clearly at fault. Who was she to judge him? How many times had he told her that he didn't like all those girls hanging around? When would she believe him?

"Forget it. It's not like you are even listening to me anyway." Akane turned and stormed off down the lane toward school.

Ranma looked after her at a complete loss. He wasn't sure what just happened. How on earth did she make him out to be the bad guy in all this? Slogging over to the fence, Ranma steadied himself as he rung out his shoes. The girl was the most ridiculous, irrational, stubborn person on the planet. Why was she so upset at him about something that had been going on for years? Glancing down at his cursed form he felt bitterness well up inside. He hated this form. He hated turning into a girl. What was the point of changing into a girl if it didn't even help him understand real girls? He thought about going to Tofu's for some hot water, but then remembered that he was still a little peeved at him. Just then, a crowd of people surrounded Akane in the distance, and Ranma slapping her hand to her head dashed down the street. This could be her chance.

A group of girls surrounded Akane the moment she stepped on school grounds. They were all talking at once and Akane, who was still trying to banish her last encounter with Ranma, couldn't make any sense out of what they were saying.

"It's only eight weeks away," one girl said.

"You've just got to," another pleaded, "we've got no one else to ask."

Akane finally got the group to stop talking and looked around. She recognized most of the girls as belonging to the dance team at the school. They were not normally girls that Akane had much to do with. Many of them were constantly being mentioned by the rumor squad for their exploits with boys and that was enough to make Akane remain out of their way.

Addressing a girl named Rina, whom she recognized, "What's going on?" she asked.

Rina took a deep breath and hoped that Akane would be sold enough on the idea to help them out. "It's like this; we have this very important competition in eight weeks and Misaki was supposed to be one of our soloists, but her father just got a new job in a different district and they will be moving before the competition. We've already entered her and if we back out now there won't be enough routines for us to qualify to compete. When we registered for the competition we had to submit the number of dancers our team would be bringing, otherwise we would just substitute from the team, but now we need another person. We were wondering if you could help us out?"

Akane hated being put in these kinds of situations. She wasn't sure why people always came to her for help like this, probably because she never said no. The hesitation was written across her face.

Rina decided to press on, "The dance won't be hard to learn. With your martial arts training I bet you'd have it down in a two weeks and the last six we'll just spend fine tuning."

"I really can't. I have an afterschool job. I can't miss work," Akane finished apologetically, but relieved that she had a valid excuse.

"That's not a problem; the dance club meets before school," Rina added hopefully.

Just then Akane saw Ranma pass through the gates. She thought of their walk to school today. How upset she was, mostly with herself. She couldn't keep herself from searching out every one of his comments for hidden meaning, then when she didn't find any she exploded in anger. Closing her eyes Akane determined that she was the most desperate loser on the planet.

"Before school, you say?" She was mulling over the possibility of avoiding Ranma in the morning for eight weeks. Would it be worth it? Sure they fought, but they had a lot of good conversations on the way to school. Akane found out that Ranma liked old American Elvis Presley music. In turn Akane had confided in Ranma that she secretly thought the boys at the school only fought her to one-up Kuno. It had nothing to do with her personally. There had been good times, but she wasn't in control right now. A break of eight weeks seemed like just the thing. Perhaps then she'd be more _accepting_ of his feelings or lack thereof.

Ranma ran up. Eying the girls one by one he determined there was no danger here. He could hear them pleading with Akane and Ranma smiled. Here it comes, he thought. She was going to say yes to whatever they were asking because she was the world's biggest sucker. She never said no. That's why these kind of people never left her alone. He wondered what she was being roped into.

"Sure I'll do it."

Four days later Akane and Tofu were in the side yard sparring. Akane had mastered or remastered the elements Tofu wanted to review and today was their first day of training where they actually fought each another. Dr. Tofu was amazingly good. His fighting style was completely different from Ranma's. Where Ranma was brash, arrogant and verbal; Tofu was subtle, fluid and focused. It was hard to tell who she thought would win in a fight between the two: probably Ranma, because he'd find Kasumi and use her to distract the doctor. Akane spent most of the time blocking. She was having a hard time finding any kind of opening. Towards the end of the session her strength began to ebb and her blocks got sloppy. This resulted in a particularly painful connection on Tofu's next pass. She dropped her arms and stepped back to signal that she needed a moment to recover.

"You seem a little slow today, Akane. Is everything ok?" Dr. Tofu asked as he toweled himself off.

"I'm just tired. I joined the dance team at school and between my jog, their rehearsals and training I'm lagging a bit. In week or so my body will be used to the new schedule and then there won't be a problem." Gingerly she poked at her arm. There was already a huge bruise forming. To keep sparring was really going to hurt, but Dr. Tofu hadn't said anything about stopping and she wasn't going to ask.

"May I?" he asked holding out his hand.

She carefully placed her arm in his hand.

"Do you want to see something remarkable?" he asked her.

"Sure."

He closed his eyes and in a moment Akane felt a warm sensation enter her body and focus in her arm. She looked from the doctor to her arm and she watched as the swollen tissue returned to its normal size and the slight discoloration that was apparent a moment ago disappeared.

"How did you do that?" she wonderingly looked at and touched her arm.

"Ki. It's a form of ki healing. I sometimes use it on my patients when I am working on superficial injuries. It's really simple to learn. In fact, because you are a girl I think it will come even easier to you."

Surprised Akane looked up from her arm, "Why would being a girl make a difference?"

"Most women don't realize it, but they are natural ki healers. It is most apparent when they are mothers. Those kisses moms give their kids…they are full of ki. That's why something as simple as a kiss quiets an upset child. The exceptional thing is that most mothers don't even realize what they are doing."

Akane was amazed. Almost all the feats of ki she had witnessed in her life had to do with battle. She knew of its power, but had never considered it in the context of healing someone.

"Do you think I could learn how to do it?" she was looking at her arm again testing it out. There was no pain. "What kind of emotion do you need to channel for ki healing to work?"

"How did you know that channeling an emotion was how ki healing worked?"

"All the times I have ever seen anything done with ki it's because someone was focusing on an emotion, Ryoga uses depression and Ranma uses confidence. Also there are attacks that are based on your opponent's energy. It just seemed to make sense that healing would have the same basic premise."

Dr. Tofu nodded approvingly at his student. She was really bright about somethings.

"You're right. To learn how to ki heal you have to first channel the right emotion; when your ki reserves have been built up you can focus it into another person by skin to skin contact. Then it's just matter of using your ki to stimulate their own body to fix itself."

"What emotion do you use?"

"I use harmony. I put myself at peace and use my feelings of harmony to create my ki flow." Bitterly, he continued, "That's why I can't use this technique when Kasumi is around."

"Do you think that there is some kind emotion I could use?" She asked hopefully. There was something that intrigued her about this. It could have been the fact it was something Ranma didn't know how to do, but even more than that was the idea that this could be something she could be good at.

Sure she was good at sports, but there was a bit of clumsy streak in her that always appeared at the wrong moment. Her cooking; despite her best efforts, and they had been her best efforts, was abysmal. Her body was nothing compared to Shampoo's or Ranma's when he was a girl. Her hair was short and lackluster compared to Uyko's. She had not the inner and outer beauty of Kasumi and she definitely didn't have the sex appeal of Nabiki. In almost every comparison of female virtue, Akane found herself lacking. Oddly enough this didn't make her less confident in her abilities. No she had always been proud of her abilities, except for the cooking. It wasn't her abilities she struggled with. It was her girlness. She seemed so much less confident doing anything that demanded the traditional view of women. It wasn't that Akane was a feminist or looked down her nose at those girls that fit the mold. It was quite the opposite. Akane yearned to be like Kasumi, Auntie Saotome and her own mother. Akane saw them as amazing orchids that were tall, pure, and compelling. She saw herself as more of a poppy colorful but easily overshadowed by the orchid's intriguing beauty. She always tried her best, but she had started avoiding situations where there were direct challenges to her femininity, simply because she was beginning to doubt that she had any.

"Akane have you started to read the passages I highlighted in _Human Immunology_?" Dr. Tofu asked, interrupting her musings.

"Um…no, I just got done with the muscles in the arm. I thought you told me muscles first." she said with a touch of embarrassment.

"I did say that, I did, and I do want you to learn the muscles first. We need those for your training. It will really speed up the process of learning to heal if you know the basics of the human immune system. As you learn more about the human body the process becomes faster, but first things first. We have to develop the emotion you are going to channel. I had plans to show you this all along and I've been thinking about this, Akane, and I think I know the emotion you can use." Taking of his glasses he cleaned a few smudges off before lifting them back to his face, he enjoyed his brief dramatic pause and the arrested look on the girl in front of him.

"Compassion."

"Compassion?"

"Yes, Akane, you are one of the most compassionate people I know. On top of your natural feelings you have lived through some significant events that allow you to have a unique perspective. Events that allow you to relate and empathize with other people in a way many can't."

Akane looked at Dr. Tofu like he had two heads.

"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything or been anywhere that makes me special. I can't even cook," the skepticism was evident in her voice.

"Akane, you have lost a loved one, you live with a perverted old man, you fought off boys you didn't want to date, you have people who perpetually change shape around you, you've had your heart broken, your sister blackmails you, you have a forced engagement, your inheritance is conditional upon said engagement, and you, yourself, _died._ Don't you think any of those experiences have increased your humanity at all?"

She was dumbfounded. She had nothing to say. She had no idea that Dr. Tofu knew so much about her. She also never thought that her life had been that full. Akane knew her life was crazy, but listed out like that just made the matter more real. Was she a more compassionate person now? It would be nice to think so. She didn't feel any different towards her fellow man. There were even wonderful fantasizes she had about sweet revenge against a few of them.

"I guess," was her lame reply. "How do I go about channeling compassion? I'm not even sure I would recognize it if I felt it."

"You will recognize it in your innate desire to help people. Next time that feeling comes up I want you to focus on it and concentrate on making it last for as long as you can. As you get better at recognizing the emotion it will be easier to bring it to the front of your mind. The greater control you have over your feelings the sooner we can start healing. It was one of the reasons I asked you to stop hitting Ranma. It's really hard to feel compassion and anger at the same time."

"Oh, about that, Dr. Tofu," Akane took a deep breath and steeled herself for her confession. "I haven't technically hit Ranma, but I did shove him and I knocked him into the canal, but I haven't hit him."

Dr. Tofu shook his head ruefully. "The whole purpose of the training is to get you to control your temper. It not about hitting Ranma so much as keeping yourself calm enough you can recognize compassion when you feel it. You're going to have to do better, and if you mess up you are going to have to apologize."

Dr. Tofu's words were like swallowing bitter medicine. The last thing she wanted to do was apologize to that jerk when he was the one shooting his mouth off. Fine, she thought, if I have to apologize I will just make sure I don't screw up. No mistakes, no apology.

Changing the subject Akane crossed the yard and fished around in her school bag. "I have training for _you_, Dr. Tofu." She pulled out a little silver bell. "I did some research after school. It turns out that we can just classically condition you with new feelings. It will be simple. Anytime I ring this bell you are to clear your mind of everything and make yourself calm. Kind of like that feeling of harmony you already channel. While you are meditating I will be doing all I can Kasumi related to distract you. I think if we combine the two we can override the first set of conditioning," she finished triumphantly.

"I don't know about this…Akane…I've tried to undo the conditioning before."

"If this doesn't work we'll come up with a new plan. In the meantime I plan on keeping you in the front of Kasumi's mind. That way we can buy ourselves time if we need to come up with a plan B."

Dr. Tofu couldn't help but smile at the girl's confidence. Mentally he shrugged, anything was better than what he was doing now.

When Akane got home, she was surprised to see Kasumi waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Akane, can I speak with you?"

Her voice seemed so serious and so formal that Akane immediately lead her sister out to the porch for a private conversation. It was getting to be the end of March and the weather was warming up enough they could sit outside without freezing.

"What is it, Kasumi?" Akane's voice was full of concern.

Nervously, Kasumi was picking at her apron, and not meeting Akane's eye.

"Has Dr. Tofu has ever mentioned me? You've been spending a lot of time with him lately and I was just wondering if I have ever come up as a topic of conversation." Her words came out in an embarrassed rush. She was blushing and her hands were fidgeting. It was the cutest thing Akane had ever seen.

"Yes, you come up quite frequently. He likes you a lot."

Akane was stunned when at her comforting words, Kasumi burst into tears.

"Why hasn't he asked me out? He's been home for three months. I thought when he came home it was for me, but he's done nothing but stay away. Are you sure I haven't done something that has offended him?" Her eyes were wide and pleading for some kind understanding.

"No," said Akane taking Kasumi's hands, "you haven't offended him. He wants to be with you, but he has a few things he needs to work out. He just needs time."

At this Kasumi ripped her hands out of Akane's grasp, covered her face, and wailed harder. "Time is what I don't have. I'm running out of it every month."

"What are you talking about Kasumi?" Akane pulled Kasumi's hands from her face and tried to look in her eyes. She was confused at the odd proclamations coming out of her sister's mouth.

"I'm talking about my eggs," Kasumi replied impatiently.

"Your eggs? The ones in the fridge?"

"No, _my_ eggs," Kasumi gestured eloquently at her midsection.

Akane's eyes widened, "_Those_ eggs."

"I want to marry Tofu and be the mother of his kids. It's all I have ever wanted. I know some women think it old fashioned, but I just want to be a mom. Every month I lose more eggs. Every month is one less chance of me getting pregnant."

"Kasumi, don't you think you are getting a little ahead of yourself here. You need to do things in the proper order. You know: date, marriage, and then maybe worry about the other things. You're only 21." Akane was blushing, she could feel it. It wasn't like Kasumi to be so direct, but it also wasn't like her to be so emotional. Perhaps she had been holding this outburst in for some time and it was spilling out now in what had to be one of the weirdest conversations of Akane's life.

"I'll be 22 soon and these are my peak reproductive years. They are slipping by, and everyday my ovaries shrivel a little more," she bowed her head. "Soon I'll just have wrinkled, prune ovaries. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

"I've never thought about how you feel about your ovaries," Akane answered truthfully. Trying to draw a smiled she added, "I've never even thought about how _I_ feel about _my_ ovaries."

"You'll help me won't you Akane? You'll mention me and keep me in the front of his mind. I just don't want him to forget that I am here waiting. You can tell him anything you think will help my case, but maybe don't mention our conversation tonight." Kasumi had Akane by the shoulders and was staring so deeply in her eyes that Akane could do nothing but nod.

"Of course I will help you, I want you to be happy." Akane said, wrapping her sister in a hug. Then she felt it; the feeling of wanting to desperately help someone. It was compassion and she focused her energies on the feeling trying to draw it out.

Kasumi pulled away smiling, her unflappable mask was back in place. "It's late. We should go to bed. I didn't even ask if you wanted dinner. Are you hungry?"

Akane was, but mostly she felt tired. She could always eat tomorrow.

"No, let's go upstairs."

At the top of the stairs Kasumi smiled shyly at her younger sister and said, "Thank you."

Akane smiled back, "You're very welcome." Both girls turned to go into their rooms when Akane called out, "Kasumi, could you do something for me?"

"Of course."

"I think you should lay off the books about human reproduction for a while, ok?" Akane said.

Kasumi nodded and went into her room and Akane followed suit.

Neither of them noticed the pig tailed boy who had opened the door to the guest room, intent on talking to Akane. The only part of the conversation he heard was Akane's last statement. Closing the door silently he got back into bed and covered himself with his blankets. Nothing he had to say tonight was that important, anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Hippocrates

Chapter 4

Ranma was perched in a tree directly above Akane, who was studying in the park. She came to the park every afternoon when she wasn't working and spent equal time studying and watching the kids on the playground. Ranma had no idea why she did this, but it was boring as hell to watch her. Nothing ever happened. For the last two weeks he had waited and watched and nothing had happened. At least nothing had happened to her. The other girls seemed to take Akane's absence as some kind of green light and he was assaulted almost daily.

He never thought he would admit this, but he was starting to miss Akane's mallet. At least when she whacked him out of the district she got him out of arms reach of those crazy girls. Yesterday had been particularly humiliating, somehow Kodachi had latched onto his arm and attempted to kiss her way up it; however, she only made it to his elbow. He pushed at her shoulders in an attempt to get her off, but she had latched onto him like some kind of lamprey and by the time he had released himself from her suction he had a weird looking hickey thing right above his elbow. He was hoping to pass this off as a bruise, but Happosai had seen to it that everyone knew it was a hickey. Apparently martial arts and stealing underwear weren't his only talents; the ability to distinguish between a hickey and bruise was also right up there on his list. Of course he brought it up at dinner on one of the few nights Akane was actually home to eat with the family. Happosai's pronouncement caused Akane to quickly finish eating and leave. Ranma wanted to follow her and explain, but his pride, and the fact that there was still food on the table, held him back.

When he finished dinner he got up and Nabiki's comments about strange elbow fetishes followed him down the hall. His feet carried him upstairs and outside a familiar door. He knocked softly and opened the door. Akane was on her bed.

"Akane?" Ranma called softly. He really wanted to talk to her. Akane filled her life with so many things she had vanished out of his. It was like she slipped into another dimension, some kind of shadow dimension where Ranma only got to see her occasionally. Her life moved in parallel lines to his and their paths never seemed to cross anymore. He could see her lying on her bed.

"Akane," he called again, approaching the bed. She didn't move. Was she mad at him? Was she ignoring him? He hadn't done anything, but he was so desperate to talk to his friend that he would have apologized for nothing.

He reached out to touch her shoulder and she still didn't move. He pushed at her and called her name again. This time he got a response; she swatted at his hand.

"Akane," he said louder, starting to feel a little irritated.

At that she sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "What is it Ranma?" The words and look on her face were so disoriented that Ranma couldn't help but think she was cute. The second the thought crossed his mind he felt flushed and a little confused himself.

"Oh, you were sleeping, I didn't realize…I'll just go." Ranma could have bitten off his own tongue. You wake her up and then can't think of anything to say. He berated himself in his head. Gah, you are such a moron!

"No, I'm up now. What do you want?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry I woke you." he said blushing and backing out of her room.

She flopped back on her pillow. "You woke me up to tell me nothing. I swear, I'll never understand you."

He shut the door and punched himself in the face for being such a coward.

Now he was sitting in a tree and if he wasn't such a coward, he would just go and sit by her on the blanket and ask why she was at the park all the time. His great plan of leaving Akane to her own devices was not working. The only thing she was in danger of was dying of boredom. He had to admit that she really needed him if only to keep things in her life interesting. How the heck was he supposed to show her that? Nothing ever happened to her. Maybe he should help fate along.

He could always arrange things so that she needed to be rescued, so that he could play the hero and she would see that no one watched out for her like he did. A flood of ideas crossed his mind at this devious thought. These options he needed to carefully consider. Under no circumstances was he willing to put Akane in actual danger. That presented a problem because he couldn't rescue her if she wasn't threatened. What he needed was a non-threatening threat.

He could attack her and rescue her, but that might get complicated and he would need a disguise. Except, for reasons Ranma couldn't understand, Akane always saw through his disguises. She wasn't Ryoga. He wondered if there was anyone he could use as an accomplice in his plan. He briefly considered Ryoga, but then remembered that the last time he had to rescue Akane from Ryoga was when they had been on a date. The corners of his mouth turned down at the memory. No, he would definitely not be setting Akane up on a date with Ryoga. Ranma shifted slightly on the branch and looked down at the girl below him. At least today he remembered to bring a manga, but he didn't pull it out. He continued his analysis of coconspirators.

Nabiki would charge him through the nose for her services and then perpetually blackmail him to keep her quiet. She would have to be a last resort. Mousse had already proven that he could successfully kidnap Akane, but there was no reason for him to keep his mouth shut and he would be taking a big chance that word would get back to Akane, then he would be in for it. There were the guys at the high school. They had been insinuating since the wedding that Akane was a little too much woman for him. Some of them had even been so bold as to suggest that the morning battle commence again because "Saotome couldn't get the job done." He could encourage that kind of thinking and the morning mauling could begin again, but Akane was so relieved the first time it ended… he really hated to dredge that all up again. Plus, she just plowed through all the guys anyway and she'd gotten a lot better since the first time he'd seen her fight. He discarded he idea. There was Kuno; Akane could take Kuno if she really needed to, but then she wouldn't need Ranma to rescue her, unless… It was shrewd, but as he mulled over the plan he thought it just might work.

Akane was watching the kids at the playground. She found this was the best place to exercise what she called her "compassion muscle." It was really easy to feel compassion for the little kids. The best part was that the park was full of little kids and those little kids were subject to the laws of gravity. That meant that every 30 minutes or so a cry would sound out and some small child would run to the nearest set of open arms. All Akane had to do was look at the tearful face and her heart would swell, then she would close her eyes and try to push that feeling out through her fingertips. However, nothing was happening. Ranma had mastered the Moko Takabisha in a week; well ten days, she mentally corrected, Ryoga _was_ three days late for the fight. Akane reminded herself again that she wasn't Ranma. Looking at the shadows on the ground she saw him silhouetted against the grass. What was he doing up there? Why had he been following her around for the last couple of weeks? What did he want last night when he woke her up? Deciding that it was stupid to keep dancing around each other silently, she called up to the boy.

"Ranma, I don't know what you are doing up there, but wouldn't you be more comfortable down here on the ground?"

Ranma's surprise at hearing his name called by the very object of his plotting caused him to teeter on the branch. He dropped his manga and it fluttered down to where Akane was sitting. She picked it up and thumbed through it.

"Hey," she called up, "Can I borrow this when you are done?" Her voice was carefully casual. Normally she would have yelled at him for his perverted spying ways, but today she had caught him off guard. One-upping Ranma was always an instant mood lift for her.

Ranma looked down at her through the branches. Should he go down there? Was she going to pound him for spying on her? Would she be able to read on his face what he was thinking? All these concerns passed through his brain, but they were overshadowed by one all consuming thought. He missed her. It was true they fought a lot, but Akane was his best friend, his only real friend that wasn't trying to marry him or trick him into doing something he didn't want. They didn't confide all their secrets to each other, but he trusted her. He talked to her about a lot of his problems. He came to her when he was having the reoccurring nightmares about the creepy old man and the plum blossoms. She didn't laugh. She even helped him on his date with…Ranma shuddered at the memory. When he needed help unmasking Kumon Ryu she agreed to the favor he asked of her before he even told her what the favor was. Somehow she had wormed her way into his life and she was essential now. Talking to her, being near her, just seeing her made or broke his day. It was like he needed to check in everyday and make sure that there was still one person out there who, when it came right down to it, would always be there for him. Despite all odds, Akane was that person and he hadn't really talked to her for two weeks now. Deciding it would be worth it even if she pounded him, he hopped down and casually sat on the blanket next to her.

"Yo, what's up, Akane?" He was striving for casual cool.

"You tell me," she replied, attempting to keep the same tone of nonchalance in her voice that she heard in his.

"Nothin' much. It's a nice day to be in the park, eh?

"Yes, it is. Are you going to tell me what you were doing up in that tree?"

"Nope."

"Are you going to tell me why you woke me up last night?"

"Nope."

"Are you going to tell me why you have been following me for two weeks?" she asked getting more irritated by the minute.

"Nope."

"Fine." She turned her back on him and focused her attention on the playground. Two little kids were crying and Akane tried to muster up compassion, but she was still upset at Ranma for being so enigmatic. Frustrated with herself, she turned her attention back to the books on her lap and studiously ignored the boy sitting next to her. Willing herself to be calm she repeated her mantra, _you can't feel compassion and anger at the same time_, over and over again

"So…you've been studying at the park lately?" Mentally Ranma kicked himself in the groin repeatedly for his stupid conversation.

"You know I have been. You've been following me, remember?" was her snarky response.

"Right." He fished around in his brain for anything that could save this conversation that was slowly asphyxiating to death, but before he could come up with anything Akane breathed new life into it.

"I haven't just been studying. I have been doing training for Dr. Tofu at the same time. The park is a really good place for me to practice."

Ranma noticed that the books she was looking at were the heavy books he'd carried home the other day.

"What's up with these books? Have you been studying some of Dr. Tofu's old text books?"

"Yeah. I've been learning the muscles of the body. I have finished the arms and legs and I'm working on the trunk of the body right now. I keep watching the playground, so I keep forgetting what I'm supposed to be memorizing. I guess I'm not that focused today." She shrugged and fidgeted around on the blanket, picking at a few piece of grass that had found their way onto the soft surface.

Ranma watched her fidget and he knew what was coming. He had been around her long enough to know when she was trying to figure out how to ask him something. He smiled to himself and lowered himself on the blanket so he was more comfortable. He closed his eyes and raised his hands behind his head. This could take a while. Sure he could help things along by asking her if she needed anything, but a perverse part of him liked to watch her squirm.

She looked off in the distance, shifted her weight, tucked her hair behind her ear and bit her lip. Ranma watched her through slitted eyes. She was so cute wiggling around as if the words she wanted to ask were tickling her from the inside out. Finally she leaned forward and touched his chest with her hand.

"Ranma?" she asked quietly, relishing the feeling of his silk shirt and the way he smelled. She could have withdrawn her hand as soon as she saw him open his eyes, but rationalized that it wouldn't break her heart if she was just physically close to him for a few moments longer.

Ranma opened his eyes but didn't sit up, afraid the moment he moved she would stop touching him. He wondered if she could feel how fast his heart was beating. He was aware of how closely she was kneeling next to him and how warm her hand felt on his chest. It suddenly became hard to swallow. He wanted to answer her question, but the words clogged in his throat so he just raised his eyebrows as if to say "what."

Akane sat back and Ranma experienced a rush of disappointment at the loss of contact.

"Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when you said if I really needed help with my training you would help me?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you help me with something? I need you to show me how you do the Moko Takabisha."

Ranma sat up at this and looked at the girl with some disbelief.

"Akane I don't think that's a technique you can master, it's really advanced and someone with your kind of control just won't…"

"Ranma!" Akane clamped a hand over his mouth before he could get the words out. "You arrogant jerk, I didn't say I wanted to learn the technique, I just want to see how you do it. How you get the ki to move to your hands."

Ranma didn't move. He was partly embarrassed at his assumption and partly nervous. If he talked while her hand was over his mouth it would feel a little too much like he was kissing her and that thought alone was enough to make him start to sweat. He pulled her hand away and scooted to the other side of the blanket to gain some distance from her. Resting on his knees he held his hands out in front of him and conjured a ki ball that was little enough to be fired into the trees that surrounded them on three sides.

"How do you get the ki to move from your chest to your hands? Enough that you can make a ball?" Akane asked never taking her eyes off Ranma. Her eyes roamed over him as if she could find some trick to what he had just done like a child trying to catch a magician in the middle of pulling a rabbit out of ahat.

He thought about what she was asking, he wanted to ask her why she wanted to know, but this was the first real conversation they had for a long time and he didn't want to ruin it, so he docilely answered her question.

"I visualize it moving down my arms and out of my body. That way I can control the size, how far it will travel, and how much power the blast will have. It's like…" he paused to think of an analogy, "when you fill up your cheeks with water to spit at someone. You kind of have to squeeze it out of yourself."

Akane closed her eyes and held her hands out the way she thought Ranma had. She thought of Kasumi the other night and her heart swelled with compassion for her oldest sister. She felt the emotion build in her chest and thought of squeezing that feeling down her arms. She felt it leave her chest and start to move. It was a warmth that had traveled down to just above her elbows when strong hands came from behind her grasped her wrists. That broke her concentration and she twisted her torso to look straight into the blue eyes of her fiancée.

Before Akane could say anything Ranma nudged her head back around so she was facing front.

"Your hands are too far apart and your shoulders are all bunched up and tense. You need to relax." He moved his arms closer together and turned her palms so they were facing each other. In doing so his hands relaxed enough that he could feel her pulse beneath his fingers and he noticed it was beating very fast. It was then he took inventory of the position they were in. He was behind her with her sweet smelling hair right below his face. Their arms were stretched out in front of them almost like he was hugging her and his hands would only have to move a few inches and their fingers would be twined together. He looked down at what he could see of her face and it was tinged with pink. He should have let her go and jumped back 50 feet with a stammered apology, but not today. He'd missed her and he wasn't going to give this up unless she asked him to. He took a deep breath and breathed in her smell. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, but was pretty sure that would spook her, so he leaned down and quietly said in her ear, "See how that feels?"

The proximity was making Akane crazy. Her heart was pounding in her chest like a brass band on speed. He was warm and strong behind her and she wondered briefly what he would do if she leaned back and tucked his arms around her waist. All thoughts of ki left her brain. She felt his fingers on her wrists and wondered briefly when they became the most sensitive part of her body. His hands were rough, powerful, and gentle as they moved her arms to the proper position; she had a desire to take his hands in hers and inspect them with her eyes and fingers, to find out what made them strong and soothing at the same time. She was just about to give herself up to the feeling of being held by Ranma when she heard his voice in her ear. The combination of his voice and warm breath on that sensitive part of her body made her jump. As she sprung out of her skin she knocked Ranma's nose with the back of her head and he immediately let go of her and clasped his face.

"Ow, stupid tomboy! What'd you do that for?" He asked through muffed hands and watering eyes.

Akane scrambled over to other side of the blanket and turned to face Ranma who was, thankfully, not looking at her. Her heart was beating like crazy. Ranma had been holding her willingly. She resisted the urge to jump up and down in joy.

"You violent chick! Do you head butt Dr. Tofu every time he teaches you a new technique?"

Akane's joy melted away in the realization that he wasn't trying to get close to her-he was just helping her learn a new technique. Stupid, stupid, she chanted in her head. Once again she let her heart run away with the situation and once again she was shot down. She had to get out of here before she lost her temper with him and hit him. After all it wasn't his fault he didn't have the same feelings she did. Immediately she began to gather her things books, blanket, and bag all the while berating herself under her breath.

"I've got to go now," she said as she stuffed the last of her things into her bag.

"Akane wait!" Ranma said, realizing that she was really leaving him.

"Sorry about your nose. Is it bleeding? No? Well that's good. Look, I'll see you later." These words were tossed over her shoulder as she took off down the grassy hill towards the playground.

Ranma slumped back on the grass his nose held tenderly between two fingers. Gah! Fine Akane, he thought, be that way. He got up and slowly walked home. He looked after her, feeling bereft as if something precious had just slipped through his fingers and he couldn't stop it. If she didn't want to be with him then he wasn't going to force her. Stupid girl. His mind wandered back to the plan he was formulating in the tree. She needed to realize that she needed him. That was the whole point of the plan. He turned his body in the direction of home and when he arrived he headed upstairs to his room to write a letter.

In the cover of darkness he delivered the letter to the Kuno compound.

The next day in Akane's locker was a note. A challenge note from Kuno set for the day of graduation. She sighed. Why couldn't Kuno just graduate in peace and leave her alone? Why did he feel the need for one last beating? Shaking her head, she switched out her shoes and headed off to work.

Two days later, the family headed off to the school for the graduation ceremony. The family walked down the street and Ranma kept casting sidelong looks at Akane. They arrived and the students and families went to sit in their respective areas. Ranma managed to get a seat next to Akane so he would know right away when she left to fight her duel. The ceremony began and it was as boring as Ranma had been predicting. He made a mental note to skip his own graduation next year.

Soon, but not soon enough, all the names had been called and the speakers made their way to the podium. It was at this point that Akane got up and moved to the end of the aisle, had a few quick words with the teacher, and she left in the direction of the gym. Ranma wrapped himself in the Umisen-ken and exited the row. As soon as he was out of eyesight of the teachers he caught up to Akane.

"Akane, where're you going?"

"Ranma, what are you doing here?" Akane looked over, irritated that her fiancée was following her yet again. "I got a challenge letter from Kuno so I'm going to meet him. Look ,this is my fight and I won't let you interfere, got it?"

Ranma shrugged, "Fine by me, I won't interfere unless you need it."

"I'm not going to need it. It's only Kuno. For some reason I guess he didn't feel good about graduating without a goodbye bludgeoning."

Ranma stood on the sidelines of the football field and watched Akane as she waited for Kuno to show up. The wind was blowing her skirt and hair as they watched Kuno approach.

"Ah my beloved, Akane. I almost let this golden moment pass. If it were not for the letter I received only three days ago I might have let today slip away without one last attempt to free you from the ignoble Saotome. It is too sad to ponder that this might be our last meeting thus, but I don't think so. Today I don't intend to lose. Prepare yourself, Akane Tendo, to date with me!" Kuno's head was bowed in a dramatic fashion and his hands were clenched. At the ending of his tirade he lifted his head to the sky and tears were streaming down his face his fists still clenched.

Akane was still absorbing his words.

"Kuno, did you say someone sent you a letter suggesting that you fight me?"

"It is true, there is some angel of mercy watching out for me."

A bear like noise erupted from Akane who turned to Ranma. "Can you believe this?"

Ranma opened his eyes as wide as they would go and attempted to look innocent. Akane narrowed her eyes, having seen the "What? Who? Me?" look from Ranma all too often.

"Ranma?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"He, he, he," he chuckled nervously.

"Ranma, when I am done beating Kuno you better be ready because…" she paused. She couldn't beat the tar out of him and still keep her word to Dr. Tofu. "Because you are going to owe me big time," she finished heatedly.

Ranma's jaw dropped when Akane hadn't promised to beat him until he was the size of Happosai.

"Akane, you alright?" he asked not daring to move any closer than arm's reach.

"I'm fine, Ranma, but if I miss pictures for this I'm really going to be upset. What were you thinking encouraging Kuno to fight me?" Her voice betrayed the hurt she felt at Ranma's sneaky act.

Ranma heard the quaver and felt horribly guilty. "Akane, it's not what you think. I just wanted to…" Crap! He couldn't tell her the truth. "I just wanted to see how your training was going. I thought it'd be a good way for me to see some of your new skills."

Turning to face Ranma she gave him a look of incredulity. The one she reserved for stupid people like Genma. "Ranma you're an idiot!"

"Hey, well excuse me for trying to help. I should've known that someone as thick and homely as you wouldn't recognize a favor if it was shoved up her nose!"

"Enough!" came Kuno's voice from the other side of the field. Akane and Ranma started, having forgotten he was even there. "I will not allow you to slur Akane in such a matter."

Ranma looked to Kuno and for the first time he noticed something different about the boy.

"Where's that stick you're always waving around?"

A sly look crossed his face, one Ranma had seen on Kodachi before. His danger senses prickled. Kuno said nothing but silently approached the pair. Ranma felt uneasy. This wasn't like Kuno's usual flamboyant and wordy attacks. Stepping between Kuno and Akane, Ranma assumed a defensive stance.

"What are you doing?" Akane hissed, "I told you not to interfere with my fight."

"He's up to something. Can't you see it?" Ranma snapped back at her.

Kuno was now close enough to be in striking distance and Ranma didn't move despite the fact that Akane was poking him painfully in the back and telling him to get out of the way.

"Saotome, I have yet to best you in combat. Today is my last day on the hallowed grounds of Furinkan High. I could not leave knowing that Akane Tendo would be left in your contemptible clutches. I vowed to make her mine and today I shall, but first I must get rid of you."

With that he opened up his palm and blew a shimmery powder into Ranma's face. Ranma coughed and went to waft his hand in front of his face, but his hand felt sluggish and he realized too late that he'd just inhaled a fistful of Kodachi's paralysis powder. He tried to warn Akane to run, but his tongue wouldn't move. Akane watched Ranma crumple at her feet and she took a defensive stance ready to battle Kuno, but before she could even throw a punch he blew another fistful of powder at her. She fell on top of Ranma. Kuno bent down and scooped her up in his arms, and with one last triumphant look at Ranma, he ran off down the field.

Ranma could do nothing, but watch helplessly as Akane was carried away.

Author's notes:

Chapter 4 and chapter 5 were originally one chapter, but they became so long and I felt like I was skimping on the details, so I broke them up. I dislike having a whole scene of action set in two chapters, but it was becoming an unwieldy piece of fiction. Look for a quick update-chapter 5 is 90% complete and then it will just be prereading and revising. I hope to update within two weeks.

Thanks for all the reviews and helpful suggestions. They motivate me to keep writing,

Thanks to my great prereaders. They are wonderful.

I have an update on my story status on my profile page. I update it anytime I do major work on a chapter. If you want to see how things are going or just make sure I haven't abandoned the story this would be the place to look.

I appreciate everyone who reviewed chapter 3. I know that my humor at the end fell a little flat and many of you were baffled with the last part of that chapter. It was meant to be funny. I hope that with experience that won't happen again. I hope to achieve clarity in my writing so that my meanings are conveyed the way I would like them.


	5. Chapter 5

Hippocrates

Chapter 5

Clutching Akane tightly to his chest Kuno ran down the field to the equipment shed. He slid the door closed with his foot before setting Akane down on the high-jump landing pad. Kuno he wedged the door closed with a few javelins. Turning to Akane he smiled down at the girl who was glaring daggers at him. Or at least that was what she was trying to do, finding it hard to be expressive without the use of her eyebrows.

"Now my beautiful temptress, I have you all to myself with no chance of being interrupted."

If Akane could have, she would have rolled her eyes. It was bad enough to have to listen to his archaic samurai babbling, but did he have to sound like some evil villain out of a poorly written movie, too?

Kuno looked at Akane and noticed she wasn't looking at him. Her head had rolled over. This would not do. He needed a woman's full attention when wooing her. Kuno looked around for a chair. Finding a folding one, he set it up and moved Akane to the chair. No sooner had he placed her in the chair then she began to slide out to the right. Looking around the shed, Kuno found a field hockey stick. By shoving the narrow handle end into the soft skin between her shoulder and collar bone he was able to prop Akane up. As soon as that was done, gravity started to pull Akane to the left and she slowly sunk down in the chair slithering out of it like a snake. Kuno found another field hockey stick and lifted her back into the chair. Propping both of her shoulders up, he held his hands out in front of him in case she started to slide again. Seeing she wasn't going anywhere he cleared his throat and readied himself for the speech he had been practicing for two days. Looking up, he saw Akane's head flopped forward on her chest. Sighing, he looked around and found a lacrosse stick. Sticking the butt end of the stick in the ground he used the scoop to cradle Akane's chin; carefully leaning Akane forward just enough so she was balanced. He looked down at his efforts pleased and then thoughtfully pulled the pieces of string out of her eye line so she could see him as he made his declaration.

Nabiki didn't know where everyone had gone. All she knew is that she saw Akane leave followed by Kuno. Ranma was nowhere to be seen; she felt safe to assume that he was with them. Deciding it would be a fitting tribute to her Alma Mater to watch one last fight on the grounds, she excused herself to find the missing party. Running down to the football field she saw a figure lying on the ground. Had Ranma been wearing his usual attire she would have recognized him right away but in honor of graduation he was wearing a uniform. She needed to get quite close to him to figure out who it was.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" she drawled. When Ranma made no move she crouched down and poked him. Still nothing so she lifted his hand and let it fall back to the earth. As it did so there was a small puff of a shimmery substance. "Paralysis powder, huh? I guess that means Kodachi is around." Standing up and brushing off her hands she contemplated the boy on the ground at her feet. There had to be a way to make a few yen off him. Her mind started whirring and she snapped her fingers and ran off down the field.

Ranma was hoping to be found soon. If for no other reason than he hated himself right now, and he didn't want to be alone with his thoughts. He should have known that something would go wrong with his plan. His brain kept replaying Kuno's triumphant smile as he carried Akane away. Again, Ranma tried to move, but he simply couldn't. He couldn't even talk to tell Nabiki to look for Akane. When he could move again he was going to kill Kuno and then if Akane was ok…his mind stopped, he refused to even think that she could be in real danger… that Kuno would…Ranma felt his stomach turn at the thought of Akane helpless to a loon like Kuno. _Anything_ could happen to her.

Nabiki moved back into Ranma's field of vision with a large rolled up poster, a bench and a camera with a tripod. Ranma knew right away that this wasn't going to be good for him.

"Come on Ranma, this is a golden opportunity. You know how emotional everyone gets at these kinds of events. They are willing to pay through the nose for mementos. I think we are going to give everyone the photo op they have been waiting for." With a speed he never would have attributed to Nabiki, she shimmed up the trees and hung a huge banner that said, _Picture Yourself with Ranma Saotome , the King of Chaos: Proof that those Stories you tell about your School are True_. Ranma couldn't believe that Nabiki managed to fit so many words on one banner. She hefted his limp form onto the bench from earlier. Arranging him so he was sitting in the corner of the bench she draped his arm casually across the back. She stepped back and looked at her handiwork. It didn't say dangerous or available. She went back and took off his shirt, leaving him only in his tank top. Whipping out some body oil she rubbed it up and down his arms and on his chest under his tank top. Then she slouched him just a bit so he looked a little more rebellious. Stepping back she put a hand to her mouth and viewed the scene. It was as if she was contemplating the flower arrangement she'd just finished. Finally, she was satisfied with her efforts.

Sounds of the students singing caught her attention; it was a sure sign the ceremony was finishing up. Nabiki rubbed her hands together in anticipation, and sat down at the makeshift booth she had constructed.

"Step right up, my friends. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Have a picture taken with Furinkan's most notorious student." Nabiki called out. The student body, hearing the commotion, was drawn down to the football field and formed a circle. "Here he is in all his martial arts glory. A more dangerous or eligible man you will never find!" she continued.

"He doesn't look very dangerous to me," one boy in the crowd pointed out.

"How can he be eligible if he's engaged to four other girls?" another girl asked.

Nabiki chuckled, winked and said, "Of course he's eligible, a man is only taken once he's been _permanently_ caught." gesturing to the star of her exhibit she noticed Ranma's head had lolled to one side and some drool was coming out of his mouth. "Just a minute." Running back, she fixed his head and wiped his mouth on his discarded shirt. "Keep it together Saotome," she hissed at him.

Ranma could do nothing but look hard at her. Keep it together, he thought, I can't even freaking move. One by one the students filed up and had their pictures taken with Ranma. Not surprisingly, most of the customers were girls. Ranma thought this had to be the single most humiliating picture incident of his life. Worse than Kodachi's doctored photos, worse than the shots of his girl side Nabiki sold and, yes, it was even worse than when he was learning the Hiryu Shoten Ha. Now all of these girls would have their own personalized beefcake photo of him. What would Akane say when she saw these floating around the school? Would she even speak to him after today, probably not. He wondered how she was faring with Kuno and tried not to think of things that he could, presently, do nothing about.

Akane was fuming. If Kuno had any semblance of a brain he would have seen her bright red aura and left the vicinity. Not only had he paralyzed her but she was currently sitting in a chair propped up like some kind demented lacrosse scarecrow. She wasn't sure who she was more angry with, Ranma for setting up this little fight or Kuno for being an unmitigated twit. As soon as she had muscle control back she was going to make those boys pay. She couldn't move, but she refused to listen to whatever drivel was coming out of Kuno's mouth and so she began to fantasize about what she was going to do to each of the boys when she got the use of her limbs back. In her mind she took Kuno to Jusenkyo and threw him into the spring of drowned hamster and then she took him and gave him to Aszua. That seemed a fitting end. The two neurotics could be together. Ranma was much trickier, how was she going to get even with him? She couldn't pound on him, so she would have to be sneakier, but how? If she was in Ranma's place what would he ask of her? He would ask her to do his homework and he would ask for her lunches. Of course there were times when he was put in a sticky situation because of her and he never asked for anything. She thought of the skating match, the gymnastics match, rescuing her from Taro, and giving her the antidote for the super soba. Why couldn't he just be a complete jerk? Then she could justifiably not like him; or why couldn't he be a nice guy all the time and then she could justifiably _like_ him? Why was he such a retarded mix of the two?

Akane was so absorbed in her own thoughts that it wasn't until Kuno bent down and looked into her eyes and said, "I take your lack of an objection as maidenly consent to my proposition."

Stupid Kuno, she couldn't talk-of course she couldn't object to anything he'd said. A small prickle of nervousness ran down her spine. Kuno was looking at her in a weird way. He wouldn't take advantage of her like this, she thought, he must be thinking I agreed to something else. The nervous prickle settled in her stomach and she swallowed and looked at him cautiously through the strings on the lacrosse stick. It was at this point of nervousness that she felt his hand on her leg just above her knee. The red aura that had dimmed at the thought of Ranma's kindness flared back up brighter than before.

Akane had heard of women doing things like lifting cars to save their children. She wasn't sure if it was the force of her anger or adrenaline, but suddenly she had the use of her limbs and with all the strength she possessed, she flung Kuno away from her and against the back of the shed. Looking around for something to impale him with, she settled on one of the field hockey sticks and hit him up and out of the shed leaving a perfect Kuno shaped hole in the roof. Breathing heavily, the adrenaline wore off and Akane sat down heavily on the high jump mat. She heard a small noise above her and looked up. A board was shuddering from the newly created hole in the roof and Akane watched as it suddenly swung loose and bent the only nail still attaching it to the building. As the board arced downward it connected with a rack of equipment and Akane watched in amusement and disbelief as rack after rack of equipment fell over like dominoes. It was too late when she realized that the last rack was going to fall on her. Unfortunately she was still sluggish from the paralysis powder and she couldn't move in time. A heavy medicine ball was the first thing to land on her, stealing her breath. Her last thought before she saw darkness was, who keeps bats on the top shelf?

Ranma was slowly moving every muscle in his body, testing to see if he had any control yet. His anxiety for Akane was growing by the minute. He barely even noticed the girls cuddling up to him. It had been a mortifying morning exacerbated by the fact that both Shampoo and Uyko paid Nabiki 5,000 yen for pictures with him completely shirtless. He was drowning in his own sense of guilt when he saw, to his surprise and relief, Kuno flying through the air. His first thought was that Akane must have hit him with something because she never puts spin on people unless she has a weapon. His chest loosened and if he could have grinned he would have. That's my tomboy, he thought fondly. Thoughts of rescuing her had been smothered by his self recriminations and now he was just relieved that Kuno was gone. His hands started to tingle and he started to move his fingers. The movement was coming back! Flexing and relaxing every muscle, he soon felt he had the strength to stand up. Mid-photo, he stood abruptly and pushed off the freshman girl that was curled around him. Bending down he picked up his shirt and ran off with Nabiki calling angrily after him.

He knew that Kuno had come from the direction of the sheds so that's where he started his search. He started combing the grounds. At the end of his search he noticed that the light in the sky was softening. It was evening and there was no sign of Akane. He felt sick. Where could she be? What if Kuno had really done something terrible to her? She obviously wasn't outside anywhere. He slipped into the school and dashed through the eerily quiet building looking in class rooms, the girl's locker room, everywhere. His feet padded on the polished tile as he ran down the deserted hallways. Finally Ranma made his way to the roof. Perhaps she was home at the graduation party. That meant that she was so mad at him that she didn't bother checking to see if he was ok. Sitting on the roof he looked down at the darkening grounds and noticed a Kuno shaped hole in one of the equipment sheds. He had tried the sheds, but they had all been locked. If Kuno exited via roof there was a chance that Akane was still in the shed, but why after all these hours would she still be in there? It wasn't much, but it was the best lead he'd had all afternoon. Not wasting anytime, Ranma hopped down two stories onto the gym roof. Sprinting across it, he took a flying leap towards the shed. When he got there he couldn't slide the door open so he just kicked it in.

"Akane." He called out. It was getting dark. He fumbled for a light switch and turned it on. The shed was a sea of tipped over shelves and equipment. No doubt about it-this was Akane's work.

"Akane!" he yelled a little louder. Scanning the room he couldn't see her. Wading his way across soccer balls, nets, hurdles and various other types of apparatus he caught sight of one shapely knee and thigh sticking up in the mess like a bent croquet hoop. Slogging over to her he started to dig her out.

"Akane, wake up! Can you hear me?" The words were too much like the ones he said to her two months ago. His throat closed up at the thought and his hands started working furiously; soon he found her arms. Already disgusted beyond belief with himself he started to fish her out. With slightly trembling hands he felt for her pulse. It was steady and strong. Relief so over powering flooded him for a moment he thought he might cry. Digging deeper he found her head and noticed a huge bump and some blood on her forehead. Rage and worry were vying for his emotional attention. Quickly, he tossed away the junk until he had her whole body uncovered.

"Akane." His voice was so shaky as his mind searched for words he could say to her that wouldn't sound the same as on _that_ day. "Akane," was all it could come up with so he said her name over and over again as he searched for injuries.

Akane heard someone calling her name and felt gentle hands running over her body. In her mind that voice belonged to Ranma and his soft touches meant that he didn't think her body was so boring after all. It was a nice dream and she closed her eyes tighter against reality. Ranma saw the small movement and called her name again louder.

Akane realized that she really was being called by Ranma and that must mean that she really was being touched by him. Her eyes popped open at this thought. How could he? Couldn't he at least wait until she was awake and could enjoy it? Aaaaak, she thought, that's not what I meant. Closing her eyes she felt angry at the boy in front of her.

"Akane!" This time Ranma's voice was filled with joy. "Are you all right? What happened? Look at me."

She opened her eyes again and Ranma's face was just inches above her own. His face was so full of sorrow and concern that Akane found herself wanting to reassure him. He was still running his hands over her arms and legs up into her hair. He hugged her to him and when he pulled away his quivering hand reached up and gently touched the swollen gash on her forehead.

"Did Kuno…?" his fingers were tracing over the bump and following the path of blood down the side of her face into her hair.

She shook her head. "It happened when the racks fell over. I didn't get out of the way in time."

Some of the fury he felt lessened. "You always were a klutz." The words came out, but his voice and touch were so tender that Akane felt no offense. On the contrary she was fascinated by this facet Ranma she had always suspected was there, but had never seen.

Sorrow was etched all over his face as he looked at her. "Akane, I'm so sorry." His voice was raw with the guilt and self loathing he felt. He was so sure that Kuno was a safe bet, but she'd really gotten hurt.

Akane was surprised to see Ranma so upset. His face was searching hers with an intensity that spoke of his sincerity.

He felt horrible and she could see it. Smiling faintly she pulled his hand away from her forehead. As much as she liked the feeling of being touched the injury, actually, really hurt.

"It's ok Ranma. I'm ok. I told you it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." Her smile was a little weak, but it was enough to reassure him. He hugged her to him again: whether it was out of relief for her well being or the fact that she seemed to forgive him he wasn't sure.

Akane was unprepared for Ranma's spontaneous embrace but quickly relaxed in his arms. She reveled in the feeling, burying her face in his neck the way she'd dreamt about in unguarded moments.

Ranma was relishing the feeling of Akane in his arms. It was the second time in a week they'd been close without her freaking out and it was everything he'd imagined. She seemed to melt against him and he wanted to protect her like this always. His had slid up her back into her soft hair and he threaded his fingers through it. He was disappointed when Akane pulled back and looked in his face.

"Ranma," her voice was no longer soft and reassuring, but had a slightly suspicious edge, "why do you smell like the perfume department in the mall?"

Ranma blushed as he remembered his morning of being cuddled by half the female population of the high school.

"Nabiki found me after Kuno hit us with that powder. It wasn't pretty. She took a bunch of pictures of me that I'm sure you'll see circulating around the school after the break. Speaking of smells, spending the better part of the day buried under gym equipment hasn't exactly made you smell like roses, so I wouldn't be talking." His words were tinged with annoyance that she would let her suspicions of him ruin a perfectly good moment between the two of them. He helped her to her feet and watched carefully to see if she was going to fall back down. Unsteadily, she raised her hand to her head as her body adjusted to being vertical after so many hours of lying down. Her knees gave way and she sank back down on the mat.

"Just a sec," she said, resting her head in her hands. After a minute she was able to stand and Ranma helped her to carefully climb out of the shed. He would have offered to carry her, but the truth was she really did stink. He doubted if even Happosai would come near her with the current odors she was emitting.

The walk home was accomplished in silence as each of the teens thought about the events of day. Akane was replaying Ranma's hug over and over in her head, and Ranma was astounded that Akane wasn't more upset. It was like when her hair was cut only without the slap.

"Akane, why haven't you punched me in the face for what happened today?"

She looked over at the boy who was walking next to her. He kept his face averted for most of the walk home and she suspected it had to do with how she smelled. She knew it was bad because she could smell herself.

"I got to hit Kuno and that felt good. I guess I'm just tired tonight. Did you want me to hit you?"

"Not really," Ranma shrugged and breathed through his mouth.

"That doesn't mean that you don't owe me big," she added grimly.

"Yeah, what do you want?" he asked, curious at this turn of events. He anticipated a huge fight, but instead they were calmly walking next to each other and negotiating. It was a completely unfamiliar sensation, but Ranma decided that he liked it.

"I'm not sure," and giving him a sly sidelong look she added, "I need to talk to Nabiki."

Ranma audibly gulped. As they approached the Dojo the sounds of music and laughter floated out to them on a warm evening breeze. Nabiki was having her graduation party. A party she had been planning for weeks. One of the advantages of always being out of the house was that Akane was able to keep her money. Not running into Nabiki meant that she was swindled less. Walking into Nabiki's party like this was tantamount to handing over a month's worth of paychecks. Akane stopped short.

"Ranma I can't go in there like this," gesturing to her clothes and face.

Ranma gave Akane a once over. She looked terrible. Not only did she stink like the boys locker room but she was dirty and cut, her uniform had blood on it, her hair was sticking up in at least six different directions, and somewhere in the mess she'd lost her shoe.

"No problem, you wait here."

He slipped over the gate and in a few minutes he was back calling her over in the dim light.

"Akane, come on. I opened the window to the furo. I'll give you a leg up and you can climb in and get cleaned up without anyone seeing you."

A wide smile broke on her face.

"You know, occasionally you have a good idea."

"What do you mean occasionally? I'm full of good ideas."

Akane wisely kept silent as they snuck around the back of the house. He squatted down so she could climb on his thigh. Using the side of the house to balance herself she climbed up and was a little shy of the window.

"I need to be a little higher," she whispered down to him.

"Why are you whispering? It's not like anyone could hear us over the music in the house?" he loudly replied.

"I don't know, it seemed like the situation called for whispering, I guess…I'll stop."

"Here step into my hands and I'll lift you up."

"OK"

As he lifted her up, he told himself he was just looking up to make sure that she was stable. She scrambled up the rest of the way and hefted herself through the window. Turning around she stuck her head out and called out,

"Thanks, Ranma."

He smiled, blushed and when he opened his mouth to reply it was like his mouth wasn't even connected to his brain.

"Akane, I thought I told you once that blue panties really don't suit you."

Akane's smile vanished and immediately a deluge of cold water hit Ranma in the head followed by a bucket.

"Ow, dumb macho chick can't she take a joke?" he muttered and went off to the kitchen to find some hot water.

Akane took her time cleaning up. She washed and soaped everything five times and hoped that got rid of the smell. She even borrowed some of Nabiki's flowery lotion. With her muscles relaxed from her soak she was ready for bed. It didn't matter that there was a party going on, she was tired from the day. Her head hurt from the inside out. She didn't have the first aid kit with her and when she washed her hair, she pulled off the scab that had formed on the cut so her head was bleeding again. Holding a wash cloth over the wound and her towel in the other hand Akane realized that she had a problem. How was she going to get back to her room without any clothes? Sneaking into the window was a good idea, but now she was stranded in the furo. There was no way she was going to venture out into the halls in nothing but a towel. She stood in the changing room biting her lip trying to decide what to do when there was a knock at the door. She jumped.

"Akane are you in there?" she heard Ranma's voice through the paper door.

"Yeah, I have a bit of a problem…

Ranma immediately started to open the door. "What's the matter?"

"Shut the door you pervert!" she screeched.

"How can I help you if you're on the other side of the door?" he retorted.

"I don't have any clothes," she mumbled.

"Listen you…what?" he stopped his tirade short.

"I don't have any clean clothes to put on."

"Do you want me to go get you some?"

"Yes,that would be…" A vision of Ranma rifling through her drawers to get what she needed popped into her head, "No wait. Could you get Kasumi to get the stuff for me?"

Ranma shrugged, "Sure I'll be right back."

He navigated his way through the crowded house ignoring the looks he was getting from some of the girls. His eyes were searching for Kasumi and he found her in the dojo serving guests. He leaned over and told her of Akane's problem. She quickly made her way up to Akane's room and gathered the pajamas and other personal items and made her way towards the furo; when she was intercepted by Nabiki, who had a small crisis in the kitchen that needed her immediate attention, so when she passed Ranma in the hallway she gave him the clothes and the mission of getting them to Akane.

"You still in there?" Akane heard Ranma's voice through the door.

"Yes. Where else would I be?"

"Here" he slid the door open and thrust his arm in holding the clothes out into space. "Well aren't you going to take them?"

"Are your eyes closed?"

"Yeah, why'd I want to see a homely chick like you?"

"You wouldn't." she snapped back snatching the clothes off his hand and dressing hurriedly.

For the second time in an hour she had verbally pulled the rug out from under him.

"I wouldn't?" his voice was considerably meeker.

"No you wouldn't. You've said it a million times. I get it ok."

Ranma stood there stunned. She sounded hurt. Did that mean that she wanted him to look?

The door slid open interrupting, his intriguing thoughts and Akane stepped out. She was clean and her wet hair was sticking to her head and clinging to her neck. She smelled a lot better and in her pajama's she looked vulnerable and little, and Ranma remembered their hug earlier in the day. Pressed to her head was the wash cloth that was obviously covered in blood. Reaching up he pulled her hand away from her head.

"We need to get that patched up." Still holding her wrist, he led her to his room and pulled out his first aid kit.

"Sit down," he commanded.

Looking around, there was really nowhere to sit except on his futon. Blushing a little she lowered herself to her knees. Kneeling in front of her, he gently lifted his hand to the gash and rubbed some Neosporin into the cut. Turning around, he found a square of gauze and taped it on, trying not to tape her hair. Ranma was trying not to notice how good she smelled or that she was wearing his favorite yellow pajamas. He was trying not to think about how nice it felt to be taking care of her for a change-not just rescuing her, but tending to her needs. She never came to him for this kind of stuff. With so many thoughts running around in his head there was nothing for him to say when he finished his patch up job, so he sat back on his feet and looked at girl in front of him.

Akane was nervous having Ranma treat her so considerately and was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She kept glancing at the door expecting an interruption at any time. When he finished, sat back and looked at her she felt her face flood with color. The silence in the room was oppressive and finally Akane could take it no more. She had to speak.

"Um, Thanks Ranma," she said shyly, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there to rescue me today."

Ranma eyed widened in shock. He hadn't rescued her. She'd rescued herself. He hadn't fought Kuno. He hadn't proved anything he set out to prove, except that perhaps Akane didn't need him around after all. His eyes dimmed at the thought.

Looking away from her grateful gaze he said, "I didn't do anything."

"Sure you did. I would have been stuck in the bathroom all night if you hadn't come along. Thanks." With that, she stood up and gently touched his shoulder before walking out his door.

Ranma scooted the bandage mess to the side of his futon and lay down with his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and a smile hovered at the corners of his mouth.

Oh yeah, he thought, she needed him.

Author's notes:

There is your quick update as promised. Thanks to my great prereaders. They were superstars to take the time to fix my mistakes twice in two weeks.

Don't look for a quick update for Chapter 6 it's not even outlined yet, all my efforts were bent on updating this chapter as soon as possible.

Thanks for all the reviews, I never dreamed so many people would like this story.


	6. Chapter 6

Hippocrates

Chapter 6

Akane was sitting on the side of the room before school watching the dance company practice their team routines. She was on the side of the room because it was quickly discovered that Akane didn't dance well with others. She wasn't quite able to pull off the whole dancing within a large group of people. She had been relegated to two solo pieces. This was fine with her. The first dance she was to perform was a modified Kata. In the interest of time Rina decided that trying to teach Akane more than one new dance wasn't going to work. It wasn't that Akane was a bad dancer, it was that she wasn't as…expressive as one might hope a dancer to be. She learned the steps quickly and performed them with precision, but the steps were all done with the same intense focus that she used when she smashed bricks. Hence the reason she was sidelined for the group dances. It was painfully apparent when she danced with the company that she lacked a certain amount of feeling in her dancing or maybe there were too many feelings, but none of them helped her blend in with the company.

Akane was grateful she wasn't in the company dances. The theme for the competition was "Dance Around the World" and some of the group pieces, especially those from Tahiti and America, had skimpy costumes and a little too much gyrating for Akane's comfort. When the girls finished their number it was time to shower and get ready for school. This was the most uncomfortable part of Akane's day. She was always amazed that her blush had faded before her first class. The girls in the dance club had a reputation with the guys and from what they said in the locker room Akane thought it deserved. After listening in a few mornings Akane came to the conclusion that she either didn't pay enough attention in their Human Development class or they didn't teach everything there was to know about boys and girls.

She wanted to quickly change and get out of the locker room before the girls started going into details about their weekends, but a cluster of girls had gathered around her locker and she couldn't get to it. They were passing stuff around and ohhing and ahhhing. One of the girls in the dance club was dating a boy who went to the University. He had taken an Arts and Crafts class and was now trying to sell some of the things he made in the class to recoup his supply costs. He had given some of his work to his girlfriend to see if she could sell it. There were pieces of hand-painted pottery, small woven mats and leather that had been worked. It was the leather that caught Akane's attention. There was a large black piece that had rearing horses embossed on it. It looked like the leather had been covered, by a bunch of Ferrari symbols. She thought of Ranma as she looked at it and on impulse bought it. His eighteenth birthday was coming up and she might be able to make him something out of it.

"How was your weekend?" one of the girls asked Akane. "Did you and Ranma do anything fun?"

Akane looked at the girl. She was in the grade below her and only superficially known to her, but past experience taught her where this line of questioning was going.

"I worked all weekend and then I practiced my routines. Nothing fun. Look, are you guys going to move so I can get dressed?"

"Sure, just a sec and we will clean this stuff up and get out of your way," another girl said. The crowd quickly shifted its attention back to weekend escapades.

With no choice but to wait it out, Akane found herself sitting on a bench the next row over waiting for the crowd to break up so she could change into her uniform when the talk started. Trying not to listen she fidgeted with the leather and turned her attention towards the windows or the ceiling or anything but the girls camped out in front of her locker. She was fairly radiating embarrassment when Rina came up and sat down next to her.

"Nice leather," she commented aimlessly.

"Thanks," Akane said her fingers running over the embossed surface.

After a moment of awkward silence between the pair Rina asked, "Does it really make you that uncomfortable to hear them talk about their boyfriends? You are engaged. You can't honestly tell me that you haven't thought about meeting Ranma in a dark closet somewhere."

Akane's face blushed as she thought about the one time she and Ranma _had _actually been in a dark closet together.

"Have you been in a dark closet with Ranma?" Rina asked at Akane's fierce reaction. When Akane was silent and managed to go even redder Rina knew she had her answer. "Well, well, well Akane Tendo I never would have thought you had it in you," Rina's sly voice spurred Akane to vehement denials.

"It's not like that…there were all these frogs and snakes…he didn't even want me…he was just trying to get something out of me," the explanation was stuttered and choppy.

"Don't you know, sweetie, that's why boys take girls into closets; to get something out of them."

Akane's face felt like it was warm enough for fusion. "Not like that. Ranma just wanted some martial arts suit from me. He wasn't even interested in acting the way a boy and a girl in a dark closet could act… but he did share his cake with me," she finished. A ghost of a smile was on her face at the thought of Ranma actually sharing a treat with her.

"He what? Akane you are not as innocent as you come across if you are doing _that_ in the closet with Ranma." Rina looked shocked and impressed.

"No, no, no," Akane waved her hands in front of her as if trying to brush away the words just spoken. "I mean we actually had a cake in there and we ate it, that's all. Ranma wouldn't do anything like _that_, at least, not with me."

"It doesn't sound like you'd mind if it did happen."

"Are we done talking about this?"

"Sure if you want, I don't know why this makes you so uncomfortable, but whatever."

Akane shrugged and not quite meeting Rina's eye she said quietly, "I just think that people should keep private things…well…private."

Rina looked at Akane in disbelief and then burst out laughing.

"Oh that's really rich coming from you, Akane." She said between gasps.

"What?" Akane indignantly. "I don't go talking about my private life to everyone."

"No, you just shout out your business as you pummel the one person in your life that should be privy to your private life."

"I can't help it if people listen in and start unfounded rumors about me and Ranma."

"People can't help but listen in. How you act and what you say just adds fuel to the rumors," Rina dryly observed, "You do know how to stop the rumors don't you?"

"Now that Nabiki is gone I was kind of hoping that things would die down on their own." Akane finished her eyes on the ground and her toes absently tracing the grout in the locker room floor.

"I wouldn't count on it. You're going to have to stop arguing with Ranma in public. That would stop the rumors for sure. There would be nothing to talk about, at least on your side. People will still probably talk about him." Rina finished thoughtfully.

"I don't even start half of the fights…"Akane started to protest, but Rina cut her off.

"You know, keep private things private. I would think a disagreement between an engaged couple would be a very private matter. Wouldn't you?"

If it had been any other couple Akane would have agreed, but Ranma seemed to manage to publicly humiliate her and she felt the need to publicly defend herself.

Akane heard the voices from the next row over dissipating and so she said, "Thanks for the advice, Rina. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Frowning at the leather she still held in her hands she quickly walked around the row of lockers to shower and change. Grabbing her stuff she glanced at the clock and cursed under her breath. If she didn't hurry she was going to be late.

Ranma watched as Akane slid into her seat moments before the bell rang. Her hair was sticking to her neck and her skin looked pink and clean. He let his attention linger on her for a moment more before turning to Hiroshi who was telling him about his weekend. She had managed to disappear out of his life again after Nabiki's graduation. He was back to trying to catch glimpses of her as she flitted from activity to activity. He felt pathetic. When did he lose his life? When did he become such a sorry excuse for a teenage boy that he actually hung out at home hoping to have a conversation with Akane? Picking up his pencil he looked at the back of Akane. Her collar wasn't straight. She must have dressed in a hurry. He wondered what made her late this morning.

Absently he began to doodle on his paper and mulled over the turn his life had taken the last two months. Akane seemed to have time to give to everyone else but him. It irked him that anyone who asked for some of her time was granted an hour or two, but she seemed to have nothing to spare for him. His hand stilled at the thought. She gave her time to people who asked, maybe he should ask. The idea was so crazy. What if, instead of trying to trick her, he just asked her to spend some time with him? Not like a date, he mentally back pedaled, but just two people having a conversation. They wouldn't have to go to a movie or anything: they could go sit by the bridge or even train in the dojo. Hope blossomed in his chest and for a moment he thought it might work until he remembered the other crazy girls and he was sure they would spoil it. Then Akane would be mad at him and in the end it wouldn't be worth it. He looked up again at her back only to find her brown eyes staring at him questioningly. Maybe it would be worth it…

Akane flipped around in her chair embarrassed at having been caught looking at Ranma. She was still mulling over Rina's words. "Keep private things private." Actually they were her words twisted into a meaning she had never considered. Her eyes kept being drawn back to Ranma where he sat doodling on his paper oblivious to the lesson being taught. Would people think less of her if she didn't try to defend herself from the verbal attacks of Ranma and his harem? Would she think less of herself? Pretending to look out the window Akane craned her neck enough that she could see Ranma out of the corner of her eye. Gasping she whipped her head back around. He'd been looking at her again or maybe he was just looking to see if _she_ was looking. How mortifying to be caught looking at Ranma.

Ranma noticed Akane looking at him again and speculated on Akane's possible responses to his request for some of her time. She always surprised him. Just when he thought they were getting somewhere she would totally misunderstand him, or even worse; she would go all girly and cute and then they would get interrupted by some outside force. It seemed it could go either way in this case. How would he ask her without making it sound like a date? He definitely didn't want to date the tomboy: just talk to his friend for a while. At the same time he didn't want to put too much stress on the fact that they were meeting as friends because they were fiancées and… his eyes drifted back to Akane whose mind was noticeably miles away. He was curious as to what she was concentrating so hard on when she turned in her seat to look at him again. He smirked. Obviously, he had his answer. He ducked his head in an attempt to hide the smug look he could feel on his face.

"Ms. Tendo, if you could spare a moment from your busy task of staring at Mr. Saotome and concentrate on the lesson please?" Her teacher snidely asked.

"Yes, Sensei." Akane said blushing.

Ranma's head whipped up at this rebuke. Akane did keep looking at him, she must have something to say to him. He wondered what she needed; it must be important for her to risk getting in trouble at school. On a piece of notebook paper he wrote. _What do you need, Tomboy?_ He wadded it up in a ball and aimed it just over her shoulder. With a quick flick of his wrist the note landed safely in the spine of her notebook. Akane picked it up and read it. Confused at his question she scribbled out, _What are you talking about? _In her fist she crumpled the paper up and waited for the teacher to turn his back before tossing the note to Ranma. She missed and the note landed on Hiroshi's desk. Puzzled but delighted at receiving a note from Akane he looked up and shyly smiled at her.

Akane could have groaned out loud. She smiled back and jerked her head in Ranma's direction hoping he would get the hint. Hiroshi's smile grew even bigger and he wagged his eyebrows at her. Their silent interaction was brought to a close by Ranma who slapped Hiroshi upside the head and took the note out of his hand.

"Ms. Tendo, please go stand in the hallway and I hope this teaches you to save pursuing Mr. Saotome until break." The teacher said over his shoulder as he wrote more math equations on the board. Utterly humiliated at having been associated with Ranma twice in one hour she kept her eyes down as she made her way into the hall Ranma's eyes boring into her back as the door closed behind her.

Akane shifted her weight. She felt like she'd been in the hall forever. Stupid Ranma, she thought, this was all his fault. Pouting she shifted the buckets in her hands and scratched her calf with her foot. Her mind drifted back to Ranma and Rina. The words she'd spoken earlier were rattling around in her brain like marbles in a jar. So absorbed was she in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the increasing decibel level in the classroom.

"He doesn't want it!"

"He not say no to me. I make food special for my Airen."

"He's not your Airen, you stupid girl. He's barely even talked to you since you came back from China."

"Is not true."

Akane crept over to the door way and watched the scene unfold with an odd sense of detachment. Ranma sat at his desk with two steaming meals in front of him. The class was watching the exchange between Ukyo and Shampoo like a tennis match, and Ranma's head was flipping back and forth from each plate trying to decide which one to eat first. Akane's hand tightened around the handle of the buckets. She didn't want to read anything into which dish he picked, but part of her thought that his choice of Ramen or Okonomiyaki was an indication of which girl he preferred.

He leaned forward and sniffed in pure pleasure. Having so many girls chase after him was a huge pain, but it did have its perks and this was one of them. Which one to start with? They both looked good and the girls brought them before lunch making this an extra meal. Akane was safely out in the hall and she couldn't make a scene. It was the perfect set up. Whipping out his chopsticks he prepared to dive in when he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Akane was standing in the doorway looking at him as he prepared to feast. Her expression was inscrutable and he had the feeling that there was suddenly a lot more at stake than which dish to eat first. Brown eyes met blue and for a moment Ranma feared she was going to come into the room and chuck his precious food out the window, but she turned and left the doorway. Not exactly sure what just happened, he turned his attention back to the food knowing it was only a matter of time before a fight between the girls broke out in earnest.

Akane left. She left school. There was no point in staying and watching Ranma make an idiot of himself over those girls. She didn't want to go home yet. She wasn't ready to risk another private conversation with Kasumi. Dr. Tofu was so close to asking her out and Akane was afraid she would give their whole plan away if she spent the afternoon with her sister. Wandering toward the park she decided to practice channeling compassion for Dr. Tofu. Aimlessly walking down the alley that lead to the park she heard a low moaning sound. Looking around she saw Mousse chained to a power pole.

"Mousse what happened to you?" Looking at the trussed up boy Akane begin to unwind the chains that held him bound to the pole. He had a gash down the side of his face and his robe was ripped showing off his muscular chest and another long, shallow slash that moved from his collar bone to the edge of a pectoral. One sleeve was ripped and he seemed a little disoriented. His glasses were on the ground so Akane set to freeing him from his own chains and helped him to sit down in the alley.

"Shampoo," he moaned piteously and glomped onto the girl that was supporting him. "I knew you would come back for me."

Akane tried to gently wriggle out of his grasp.

"Shampoo," he cried out.

"Hey!" she shouted. "I'm not Shampoo." A well placed elbow to the ribs got him to let go of her. She bent down and retrieved his glasses then thrust them into his hands. He put them on.

"You're not Shampoo."

"I told you that already, Mousse. Who tied you up?"

"Shampoo!" the boy moaned again.

"Yes, I know. Everyone loves Shampoo." The words were bitter as the image of Ranma eating Shampoo's ramen flashed in her mind. "However this conversation would go a lot faster if you would quit moaning her name."

"No, Shampoo tied me up because I was trying to stop her from wasting her lunch on Saotome."

"Oh."

Silently, gently Akane fingered the chains that he so expertly concealed beneath his robes.

"You know," she said quietly, "I feel sorry for you, Mousse."

"Excuse me?"

"It's kind of pathetic the way you follow Shampoo around. She only has eyes for Ranma. Why don't you just give up?"

"Obviously you don't understand the power of true love," he replied haughtily. "You do not simply abandon the one you love, simply because she shows signs of disinterest."

Akane snorted. Taking in his battered appearance she thought, if this is disinterest I'd hate to see what dislike looked like.

"Mousse, you can't make someone be in love with you. What makes you think that getting rid of Ranma will make Shampoo fall in love with _you_?"

"Nothing at all, but I hate to see her waste herself on someone who is so obviously unworthy of her and the name of Amazon."

"So if you found someone who was worthy of both things you would step back and let him have Shampoo?"

Mousse looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and Akane wondered if he knew how similar their situations were.

"When you put it that way, I guess," he said slowly, "I would give her up if I found someone who was worthy of both Shampoo and the Amazons. It would then honorable to step aside…but I believe that I am the only one worthy of both, so this discussion is completely hypothetical."

Pushing his glasses up on his face he tried to stand up but his wobbly knees wouldn't hold him.

"Here Mousse," Akane said sighing, "let me help you."

Reaching out she took the arm that was under the ripped sleeve and inspected it. It had a long bloody scratch.

"These are all cuts," she observed, "she must have used your own weapons against you or you would have more blunt trauma. Hold still."

Channeling her ki she projected it down her arms and into Mousse. She had been slowly getting the hang of making it move through her arms and she and Dr. Tofu had been practicing on the small children that came into the clinic.

Mousse watched fascinated at what Akane was doing. His arm felt warm and in his chest he felt something like understanding. It was like Akane understood his feelings. Shaking his head to dispel the feeling, he knew it was impossible, they barely knew each other.

"May I?" she asked politely and she placed her hand on his bare chest and filled him with her ki. Again he felt as though Akane was the only person who could understand how he felt. It was a comforting and disconcerting at the same time.

Lastly she touched his face and he looked at her. Her eyes were closed in concentration and her hand was little and surprisingly soft for someone who did martial arts. Her fingers feathered across his jaw and the warmth filled him for a third time and he didn't think about it; his hand reached up and covered hers and he looked questioningly into her eyes.

Delicately she withdrew her hand from under his and he felt his face. There was no gash. He looked at his arm and down at his own chest. "I've seen women in the village do things like this before. How do you do it?"

"Ki."

"Ah, thank you Akane Tendo."

"No problem, Mousse. I'd tell you to be careful around Shampoo, but that would be pointless, wouldn't it?"

"Probably," he smiled and looked at her curiously. "Can I ask you a question about your technique?"

Akane nodded.

"What do you feel when you heal someone? It is strange but when you were touching me it felt like you understood me, but now that we are standing apart and talking the feeling is little more than an odd, passing sensation."

Akane, unprepared for his question and his honesty, looked thoughtful. "I use compassion so that's what I feel, but I don't know why you felt the way you did, Mousse. I will ask Dr. Tofu about it when I am at work. I usually just practice on children getting shots and they never give me feedback like this."

"I must go back to the restaurant. Many thanks, Akane Tendo." He turned and made his way down the alley stopping to look back at the girl who was still kneeling in the middle of it. It was odd being with Akane. He hadn't thought of Shampoo for at least ten minutes. He thought of the feelings she generated inside of him and with no answers to his questions about the short haired girl he turned his mind down the familiar path that was his love for Shampoo.

Walking down the alley, Ranma was holding a cloth to his face. This morning hadn't turned out well at all. Shampoo and Ukyo's battle took over the classroom and before he ate his food they had tipped over the desk it was on to make room to fight. To make matters worse Ranma was distracted by Hiroshi and Diasuke talking about how the dance company needed a boy for one of the numbers and that boy would probably get to dance with Akane. Because he was listening to their conversation and not watching the fight he got hit by two wayward spatulas and now his face was cut and bleeding in two places. He left the room to ask Akane about the dancing but she had slipped away.

This time she blatantly left school. He wanted to ask her about that morning and why she kept looking at him. He'd finally worked up the courage to ask for some time with her. The more he thought about it the more the idea appealed to him. Feh, he scoffed to himself, he'd have to get close to her to ask her, and that wasn't going to happen if she kept vanishing on him. He tenderly removed the cloth the school nurse had given him. It was soaked with blood. Sighing, he supposed he'd have to go to Dr. Tofu's and have him stitch up his face. At least that is why he told himself he was heading in the direction of the clinic, it certainly didn't have anything to do with Akane. His reasons were all medical.

Upon entering the waiting room Ranma found it full of young mothers with little children. Not Dr. Tofu's usual crowd he thought and removed his shoes and tried to smooth down his hair in the front. He slipped into a pair of slippers provided by the clinic and walked towards the back where the examination rooms were.

"Akane," he called out softly listening for her response as he slowly made his way down the hall. He could hear her voice talking softly to someone and stopped outside of the exam room to wait for her to come out. The murmur of voices was reassuring, he couldn't work out what they were saying, but she didn't sound hurt or upset. Her voice had a soothing quality to it that he was unfamiliar with. She almost sounded like Kasumi, Ranma smiled at the idea of his violent tomboy exhibiting some of the gentler qualities of her sister. Soon the door opened and a mother and her child left the room.

"Thank you Dr. Tofu, I can't tell you how much easier it is to bring him here for his shots. He never sits this still anywhere else. You and your beautiful assistant are miracle workers."

At these words Ranma looked at the little boy who was the subject of the discussion and he had a particularly star stuck expression on his face every time he looked back in the room at Akane. Ranma's eyes narrowed. Dr. Tofu ushered the mother down the hallway and out into the reception area and Ranma let himself in the exam room. Akane was cleaning up some mess of needles and other doctor looking junk. Her hair was pulled back in a clip and she had a plain white tee-shirt on and some scrub bottoms. Ranma looked her over having never seen her in work attire. Scrubs had to be one of the most unflattering articles of clothing ever invented, but Akane made them look good. Part of her charm was how completely oblivious she was as to the effect her appearance had on him and the other part was she had a really great butt. With a clipboard in her hand she looked less like the upset, slightly disheveled girl from school this morning and more like a woman who knew what she was doing. The thought was intriguing and unsettling at the same time.

"Ranma!" Akane called out in surprise when she noticed him behind her. This broke him out of his thoughts; thoughts that had unfortunately left little else in his brain.

"What are you doing here? Oh you're hurt!" she exclaimed in one breath. "Come here and sit down, I can fix it."

Ranma, unused to seeing Akane competent in anything other than smashing bricks, obeyed without a word and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Absently he scratched at the cuts as he watched Akane wash her hands.

"Stop touching it with your dirty hands, do you want an infection?" Her tone was exasperated and Ranma assumed that she was annoyed he was bugging her at work.

Akane was unprepared to see Ranma at work. This was her Ranma free zone and she was slightly annoyed that he had invaded this private space until she saw he was hurt.

"What happened?" she asked drying her hands and gesturing for Ranma to sit on the stool.

"Um, I didn't get out of the way of Uyko and Shampoo fast enough. I was collateral damage," he said with a shrug.

"I guess that put a crimp in your lunch plans," her voice came out tighter than she meant it to.

"I'll say, they spilled the food everywhere. What a waste," he thought longingly of the free meal.

"Who won the fight?"

"Don't know."

"You don't know who won the fight and you weren't paying enough attention to dodge Uyko, I am assuming it was her because these look like spatula slices, so what were you doing?" Akane asked, hoping, by some miracle, he would say he was paying attention to math.

"Um.." Ranma blushed. He didn't want her to know that the conversation about her dancing with some other guy was what held his attention. How he was going to ask her about it without her thinking he was jealous. That thought made him blush harder because he wasn't jealous, he just felt bad for the guy that was going to be saddled with her. He stopped this train of thought, there was no way she would agree to go on a non date with him if he insulted her. Gah, how could he have come in here without a plan!

Akane watched the expressions flit across his face and decided that she didn't want to know.

"Never mind Ranma, let me fix your cuts."

Ranma was sitting on the twisty stool in the middle of the exam room and looking at her with an expression of wariness and something else she'd seen before but couldn't name.

"You're not going to try to sew me up or anything like that are you?"

It was the tone of voice that tipped her off, he was wearing the same expression he got when he was about to eat her cooking. He had a mix of wariness and resignation to pain written across his face. Akane resisted the urge to poke him in the eye with a tongue depressor.

"No, Ranma I'm not going to try to stitch you up. I don't know how to sew stitches. Hold still, I promise this won't hurt."

"What are you going to do to me?" Ranma asked his feet pushed the stool and himself out of her reach.

"Nothing that will hurt, I promise." She said taking two steps forward.

Ranma changed directions on the stool and scooted out of her way, which was no mean feat as the exam room they were in wasn't very large.

"Nothing that will hurt me or you?" he asked suspiciously.

Taking two more steps in his direction she said, "Nothing that will hurt you. If you'll just sit still and stop being such a baby, I will fix your cuts and you can be on your way. That's why you came isn't it?" she asked and hoped that she didn't sound like she was fishing for another answer.

"Uh…yup, sure. That's why I'm here," Ranma said taking the excuse that had just been handed to him on a silver platter.

Akane moved closer to him and Ranma had to repress the urge to flee. He wasn't sure why he was scared of her; he wanted to blame it on the fact that he didn't like the idea of Akane handling sharp things near his face, but he was just as scared of the idea of being close to this woman-like Akane. He noticed that Akane didn't have anything in her hands and so he forced himself to relax. Whatever she was going to do it was going to be with her bare hands and he could handle that.

"Ranma," she said in the same quiet tone he heard earlier, "I'm just going to touch your face, you don't have to look like I am going to knife you or anything. Relax." Her hands were trembling slightly in excitement. This was it. She was going to show him that her training was paying off and he was going to be impressed with her…maybe even proud.

Ranma watched her come closer and decided that not watching was best so he closed his eyes. If his eminent death by gross medical incompetence was approaching he didn't want to see it. He felt Akane lean down and caught a whiff of her perfume or soap or something and he relaxed. Her little hands were at the edge of his hair and he sensed Akane tense up so he opened his eyes and saw that hers were closed in deep concentration. The warmth that suddenly flooded him stunned him in its intensity. It was as if there were no years of misunderstanding between them. It was her warm smile on that first day injected into his veins; no curse, no cats, no fathers, no crazy girls, just all the nice things that should have been.

Her fingers lightly moved down to his cheek and again Ranma felt the warmth that was Akane. It wasn't like earlier times in his life when he basked in its glow, then her kindness heated him from the outside in. This time it was warming him from the inside out and he wanted to soak in it until his skin went all pruney. He was enjoying her small hands as they feathered across his face and the combination of her touch and the emotions he was feeling was heady.

For her part, Akane was startled when she started to heal Ranma that images and impressions flooded her mind. Impressions of gnawing hunger, of boredom, of loneliness. Scenes flashed into her brain of leaky tents, running from angry mobs and austere training grounds. Memories that weren't hers, but were Ranma's had somehow bounced into her brain. Deftly she moved her hand down to his cheek and focused her energy again. She felt him shift beneath her fingers almost as if he was pressing his face into her hand. Softening her expression and making her touch much more personal than professional she reveled in touching him. Rarely did Ranma make any effort to touch her and so she had kept her distance, but there were many times when she would have liked to hug him or hold his hand. Knowing that those kinds of gestures wouldn't be received without some kind of insulting remark was reason to refrain from touching him. Now, however he was sitting completely still and she had him at her mercy.

Opening her eyes she saw his eyes were closed. She took this time to study his face. He had a short scar by his eyebrow and she wondered how it got there. There was a circular scar that looked like a chicken pox scar just under his lip. The idea of Ranma with this childhood illness made her smile. She hoped that he was still at home with his mom when he was sick. His recent cuts were healed and Akane gave into the temptation to sooth his past injuries. She tenderly swept her fingers over his brow and her hand down his jawline. Her fingers were splayed so that she traced his jaw, his cheek and her thumb brushed over the corner of his mouth, grazed his bottom lip and the scar just below. She felt him start under her hand and she quickly turned around, protecting herself from whatever verbal assault he was going to launch at her.

Ranma jolted when he felt Akane touch his lip. His eyes flew open, but she had already withdrawn her hand and was busy washing her hands with her back to him. He was feeling confused. Akane had touched his lip. He was sure of it, but if that was the case why was she on the other side of the room? That was some kind of signal right? Didn't that kind of thing lead to kissing? It was a terribly intimate gesture, but she didn't seem to notice it even happened. Maybe it was an accident. He'd misinterpreted her signals before. The fact that her lips were now five feet away from his was a big indicator that it must have been an accident. What the hell just happened? One minute he was basking in the comfort and peace of being with Akane and now by touching him she'd triggered his attraction and suddenly the exam room was way too small.

"Ok you're all patched up. You might want to go to the bathroom and wash the rest of the blood off your face before you go out in public." Secretly Akane was impressed at how steady her voice sounded, she almost pulled off professional. She needed to get him out of the room while she collected herself. Then she could talk to him about her ki technique. She hoped he'd be as fascinated by it as she was.

Ranma looked at her back. What was she talking about? Was he the only one that felt like there had been a small tornado that rushed through the room. Was she seriously not affected by what just happened? Why was everything with her so one sided? How could she stand there washing her hands and not have felt anything? She was always so unaffected by anything that transpired between them. He needed some fresh air. Abruptly he stood up and in frustration pushed the stool in Akane's direction.

Akane turned around and the stool whacked her in the knees.

"Ouch, what was that for?"

"Oh sorry." His tone was cool and he defiantly held her gaze. If she was going to pretend nothing happened then he could play that game too.

"Are you going to wash up?" she asked hesitantly, not sure why he was suddenly so aloof

"Nah, I think I'll do it when I get home." He said.

"Aren't you even going to go look in the mirror?"

"Look if you're done cleaning me up, I think I'll find Dr. Tofu and see if I need stitches."

When Akane didn't respond right away he said, "I'll see you." He turned on his heel and left the exam room, but he didn't look for the doctor. He headed home.

Akane stared at the doorway in disbelief. Was he that repulsed by her that he couldn't stand to be in the same room with her? Again she had read too much into the situation. She shouldn't have touched his face. He didn't even look to see her handiwork. There was no pleasing him, nothing she did would ever be good enough. She left the room and went outside to calm herself before the next patient came in. When the young mother brought her baby in for immunizations Akane was all smiles.

Ranma sat brooding in the furo. How could he have even thought that Akane would want to spend time with him? Today in the exam room Ranma was so close to just blurting out his idea of spending time together, and just when he thought they were getting somewhere she went all clinical on him. He ran his hands over his face in frustration his fingers paused on the side where Uyko's spatula's had sliced him. He didn't feel any trace of the wounds. He'd always been a fast healer, but never this fast. Weird.


	7. Chapter 7

Mousse arrived back at the Cat Café and went to sneak in the back door. He didn't want to hear Cologne goading him over, another defeat at the hands of Shampoo.

"Mousse!" Cologne called out, spying him with her sharp eyes. "Where have you been? We aren't paying you to loaf around."

"You aren't paying me at all, you shriveled gargoyle." Mouse mumbled. His reward for this was a swift swak on his head with her staff.

"Go wait on tables until Shampoo comes back from her lunch with Ranma," she ordered.

He turned to do as she bid, but was stopped short when her staff was brought down suddenly in front of his chest.

"What happened to your clothes, Mousse?"

"I was in a fight."

"A fight that managed to rip and bloody your clothes, but left you with no injuries, interesting. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, boy. You might as well tell me now because I will just find out later."

Mousse knew she was right. If there Cologne was anything it was shrewd. Sighing, he said, "After the fight I ran into Akane Tendo," Mousse said, intentionally omitting the details of his encounter with Shampoo. "She used a ki technique similar to what I have seen in the village to heal my wounds."

"The Tendo girl is using ki to heal? How very interesting." At this, she pulled aside the rips in Mousse's robes and examined his skin. Almost to herself she said, "It looks good, she isn't bad. I wonder if she might be of some use to us."

Mousse jerked away from Cologne and narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to see Akane hurt. It wasn't out of any affection, but she was a useful comrade in keeping Ranma away from Shampoo. She was, in her own unintentional way, a good ally.

"What emotion does she channel?" Cologne demanded after a moment of silence where they were both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

"Why should I tell you?" Mousse asked.

With another sharp rap to the head Cologne demanded, "Don't get smart with me, boy. Tell me."

"Compassion."

"Compassion? This just keeps getting better and better." Shrewdly, she looked at Mousse. "I bet that was an interesting sensation when she healed you. I am sure that you must have felt something…pleasant. I've said it before; I think you and Akane Tendo would deal very well together."

"I love Shampoo," Mousse stated emphatically.

* * *

Akane's head snapped back when Dr. Tofu kicked her in the face. She dodged the next kick, but was too slow to block his punch and she was sent sprawling across the yard. Tucking herself into a ball, she rolled and just dodged a punch that would have easily immobilized her had she been lying in the same spot she landed. Hopping back onto her feet, she swiped her hand across her face in an attempt to wipe her watering eyes. When she pulled her hand back she noticed blood. Dr. Tofu had kicked her in the nose. She looked at the blood and scrutinized her teacher and friend. The look on his face was one of challenge. She wasn't paying enough attention to their sparring session and he let her know. Acknowledging his silent message she nodded once and lifted her hands up to signal that she was ready.

As the sun set, they moved around the yard, striking and dodging. Encouraging words were met with a look of utter concentration and changes to form and position. Forward and back: kick, block, punch it was almost rhythmic. Dr. Tofu dodged and blocked as Akane came at him. He raised his hand and swatted away a punch that Akane threw at him and moved to hit her in the abdomen, but she raised her leg and blocked his punch with her thigh. She immediately kicked out in an attempt to strike the doctor in the back. He caught her leg and gave it a twist, wrenching her at the hip and causing her to fall flat on her back.

"Akane, where's your mind tonight?" He stood over her with his hands on his hips. She could see the first stars of the night behind him. Despite her high esteem of the doctor, she thought he was a jerk for not even breaking a sweat in their match.

"I don't know. I'm sorry, Doctor." Sitting up she bent her head down and wiped her bloody nose on the shoulder of her shirt.

"Come here, Akane." Dr. Tofu put his hands on her face and the pain that was in her nose vanished. He moved his hands down to her leg where he'd punched and the throbbing stopped. Akane loved it when Dr. Tofu fixed her after their training; she always felt so peaceful. It was if all her cares could wait and she could just be at harmony with the world. Harmony…she thought of Mousse's comments that afternoon.

"Dr. Tofu, is it possible when someone uses ki to heal, that the person being healed feels something?"

Dr. Tofu smiled at Akane. "Why, did that just clear your mind? Are you ready to meditate the rest of the night away?"

Akane gave him a half smile.

"Sure, it's actually pretty common for the person you are healing to pick up on traces of the emotion you use."

"Is it possible to get…I don't know…feedback from someone you are healing. Is it possible that you can feel their emotions back in your head, or even their memories?"

"Hmm…well, that is less common, but it does happen. Usually it happens if the person doing the healing has a lot of strong emotions towards the person being healed." Akane breathed a sigh of relief; strong emotions didn't even begin to describe what she felt for Ranma. She was glad it wasn't anything more serious. "But," Dr. Tofu continued, "The person being healed would also have to have strong emotions for the person doing the healing. I can't think of any other situation where memories would be transferred. Does this have anything to do with Ranma coming to the clinic today?"

Blushing, Akane nodded, "It was really weird. When I healed him I felt emotions that weren't my own and I saw, I mean I didn't see, but I had pictures in my mind of things I have never done and places I have never been. It's kind of hard to explain."

"I'm not surprised. Ki can behave strangely if not regulated accurately. You must not have focused properly."

Akane bit her lip. "What kind of strong emotions would a person have to feel for this kind of thing to happen?"

"I imagine anything: fear, hate, disgust, love, joy, lust, any combination of more than one strong emotion would work. Ki healing works best with one focused emotion. Too many emotions running high can alter the way it works. In your case it looks like your ki mingles with Ranma's. That's why you can see his memories. What did he say about it?"

"I didn't exactly ask him. I…uh…wanted to ask you about it first."

"You should ask him," Dr. Tofu suggested.

Akane thought how Ranma might react if she suggested they go out to the dojo and "discuss feelings." She almost laughed out loud at the horrified look she could picture on his face.

"Thanks for the info." Akane said. "Are you ready? Tonight is the night we agreed on."

"I don't think I am ready for this yet, Akane," the doctor said.

"No, you need to do it tonight. You can't waste anymore time. Every month that passes Kasumi gets sadder and sadder." Akane decided early on that it would be a bad idea to let Dr. Tofu know that Kasumi's greatest ambition was to be the mother of his children. He already acted oddly enough. He didn't need thoughts of his role in fulfilling Kasumi's dreams to cloud the issue at hand. They had been making remarkable progress with unconditioning him. Akane kept her little silver bell with her at all times and would often spring Kasumi attacks on the Doctor. She might spray a little of Kasumi's perfume at him, or play a recording of her singing in the kitchen. One time, she locked him in a room plastered with Kasumi pictures on every surface. It took almost 40 minutes but he was able to calm himself and figure out how to get out of the room. Most of the time Dr. Tofu could calm himself down and these things didn't faze him, but if he stared acting loopy, all Akane had to do was ring the little bell and he would settle back down.

"You need to call her tonight and ask her out for Saturday night," Akane said sternly. She got up and grabbed the doctor's arm and guided him into the clinic. Dragging him down the dark hallway Akane, pushed the doctor into a chair and held out the phone to him. He looked at it like she was offering him a flaming scorpion.

"Take it," she insisted, "and call her." Gingerly, he reached out and took the phone and before he knew it Akane had dialed her number. He held the phone to his ear. It rang once and he hung up.

"I can't. I can't do it. She's going to think I am crazy."

"No she's not. How many times do I have to tell you? Kasumi wants you to ask her out."

"I know, but she wants the old, coherent me to ask her out."

"She doesn't know that there are two yous. She just thinks that you don't like her. Do you want her to think that? Do you want her to move on?"

Dr. Tofu shook his head.

"Ok, then." She dialed the number again and removed the phone base from his reach so he couldn't hang up.

"Hello?" Akane could hear Kasumi's voice over the receiver.

"Hello." Dr. Tofu croaked, and to his eternal embarrassment his voice cracked like he was thirteen. His eyes widened in horror and he threw the receiver at Akane who had no choice but to catch it. She shoved it back in his direction, but he quickly sat on his hands and shook his head.

"Hello?" Kasumi said again. She knew someone was there because she could hear whispering.

"Do it."

"No, I can't do it"

"You said you would, do it now!"

"Hello, I can hear you. Can you hear me?" Kasumi said a little louder.

This inquiry was met with dead silence on the phone as the whisperers realized they were overheard. Akane leveled Dr. Tofu with an intense glare. She snapped her fingers once, pointed at the receiver and handed it to him; her lips a tight line. He meekly took the receiver out of her hand and then, after deep breath, he spoke.

"Kasumi?"

"Yes?"

"This is Dr. Ono Tofu, I was wondering if you weren't busy. I mean I know that you are busy. I don't think you just sit around and do nothing…he he he…I just thought that maybe you would…ha ha ha."

Akane shook her head. This was not going well. She brought out the little bell and rang it. Sitting up straighter Dr. Tofu took another deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Kasumi, will you go out with me on Saturday night?"

"Oh Doctor Tofu, that would be lovely. Thank you for asking."

"I will come by and pick you up at 6:30."

He calmly put the phone down and exhaled. Abruptly he stood up and walked to the other side of the room where he did a little happy dance.

* * *

"I'm home!" Akane announced as she removed her shoes. Kasumi came floating into the entryway. "You look happy," Akane pointed out a little smugly.

"Mmmhumm," she replied a little dreamily, following Akane into the kitchen.

With an overly innocent tone Akane asked as she leaned over the open fridge door, "Anything good happen today?"

"Dr. Tofu asked me out," she said with a long drawn out sigh of satisfaction.

"He did?" Akane asked in mock surprise as she straightened up with a bowl of rice in her hand.

Kasumi turned and swept her sister up in a hug. "I know you had something to do with it. Thank you."

"What are you going to wear?" Akane asked stepping out of her sister's embrace with a delighted smile that lit up her whole face.

"I was thinking I would wear the blue…" but she was cut off as Ranma stuck his head around the corner and said, "Akane, the phone's for you."

"Oh, I'll be right back," she said and turned to follow Ranma out of the room.

Ranma casually seated himself within hearing distance of Akane. He was quite surprised to hear a male voice asking for his fiancée. Obviously, this guy didn't know who _he_ was, or he wouldn't have the nerve to call Akane at home.

"Hello," she said into the receiver. "Oh Doctor Tofu," she exclaimed, "why are you calling _me_?"

"I need you to come on our date on Saturday," he said sounding slightly panicky.

"No way. I would feel like a third wheel."

"Akane please, I need you there to bring me back to myself if I go crazy. Please. You can bring someone. We can double date," he added somewhat frantically.

"Who would I ask?"

"Ranma?" His voice was hopeful.

"Are you crazy? Do you know what he would say to me if I asked him out on a date?" her voice dropped to a whisper and she brought her hand up to cup the receiver.

Ranma's ears perked up at this last statement. Who could she be talking about?

"Look you don't have to ask Ranma if you don't want. There are plenty of other guys around; surely you are friends with someone that you could ask."

"I guess I could ask Ryoga out, but I haven't seen him for a long time. I don't even know if he's in town."

Ranma's hands tightened on the book he was pretending to read. Oh, there was no way he was going to let her go out with the pig.

"Please, Akane? If not for me do it for Kasumi."

'I am thinking about her, and I'm pretty sure her feelings would be hurt if I just showed up with a guy in tow."

"What are we going to do?" Tofu asked in a small voice.

Ranma kept his down and trained on his book, but his attention was focused on Akane's conversation. "I'll think of something, don't worry. The whole undconditioning thing was my idea. I should have predicted this. What time are you meeting again?" He heard her pause, "6:30. Oaky. Where are you going to go? That Italian restaurant? Whoa, you are really trying to impress her. Fine, I will be there at 7:00, but you have to buy me dinner." With that closing statement, Ranma heard her finish her call. His mind was working furiously. It sounded like she was going to go out with someone. Who? Sure Ryoga was out of town now, but he would probably show up in the next few days just because Akane needed a date. He had crappy timing like that.

He found himself rising off the floor. He'd had time to think since he'd seen her that afternoon, and he still hadn't quite given up on the idea of spending some time together, so he approached her.

"Akane," he said from behind.

"Hmmm?" she answered distractedly as her mind was already trying to solve the dilemma of Dr. Tofu's date.

"Want to do some training on Saturday night?" Normally Ranma would've had a hard time getting those words out, but he was irked that she would go on a date with another guy.

"No," she replied absently, "I'm busy Saturday night."

"Doing what? Going out with Ryoga?" His tone was acrid.

Akane's head whipped around and her eyes narrowed. "Why? Are you jealous?"

Ranma had Akane's full attention, and sure it was an argument they had a million times and one that usually ended in pain for him, but he was so happy to have things back to normal.

"Why would I be jealous over you? Going out with one guy while you are engaged with another, that makes you some kind of floozy."

"What does it matter to you? Maybe I'd like to date Ryoga without you having some ulterior motive and following us…" her voice trailed off.

Ranma, who was just getting into things, was caught off guard when she ruined the mood by stopping the argument. Her eyes went all unfocused. Completely arrested by her idea, she suddenly, she reached up and grabbed his face between her hands and looked into his eyes with a brilliant smile.

"You, Ranma Saotome," she pronounced "are a genius!" Lightly patting his cheek, she spun on one heel to walk back down the hallway to Kasumi.

Typical of his interactions with Akane, Ranma was left standing alone wondering what just happened.

* * *

Late Saturday afternoon Ranma wandered into the house. He didn't know who Akane was going out with. He never had the chance to ask her, but he was going to find out. Heading up to his room, he pulled out his stash of disguises. As he was rifling through things, he noticed that some of his stuff was missing; a hat, some glasses and his favorite pair of arm braces.

"Stupid, pop," he muttered, "always takin' my stuff."

After settling on the clothes he would need for the evening, he wandered to Akane's room to see if he could talk to her. He knocked on her bedroom door and got no answer. Ranma checked the dojo, the laundry room, the tea room, and finally ended up in the kitchen, where, as he passed a bowl of fruit, he grabbed an apple and absently crunched on it as he wondered where she could be. Kasumi rushed into the kitchen; her hair was up in some curlers that were as big as soup cans.

"What's in your hair, Kasumi?"

"Oh hello Ranma," she noticed the apple and offered to make him something more substantial if he wanted. He shook his head and repeated his question.

"Oh, these are for my date tonight with Dr. Tofu," she said shyly with a tinge of pink across her cheeks. "Akane and I decided what I was going to wear and how to do my hair in advance so I would be ready."

"So she isn't here to help you get ready?" That would explain why he couldn't find her.

"She left about an hour ago. She said that she needed to stop at Mr. Izumi's and then she had plans for the night." Mr. Izumi ran a nearby martial arts shop. He and Akane often went there when the dojo needed new equipment. They both liked the friendly old man and it was fun to browse all the different items in the store. They tended to get along better on trips to his store, so it was kind of an unspoken agreement that when one of them needed to go, they would go together. Today she went alone.

Akane walked into the store and called out to Mr. Izumi. He came out from a back room and greeted her in his friendly way. He was a happy man, short and squat as the years had added pounds. Akane had a hard time every picturing him as a martial artist, but he had been.

"Mr. Izumi, I was wondering if you could get something custom made for me?" Akane asked.

"Sure. What do you want made for you."

"Actually it's for Ranma's birthday. It's coming up and I found this really cool piece of leather and I was hoping you could have it made into some arm braces."

Picking up the leather and examining it, Mr. Izumi chuckled at the horses he saw embossed on it.

"I think I can help you out. Do you have any idea of the size you will need?" Akane took the arm braces she had pilfered out of Ranma's stuff earlier and handed them to him. "When is his birthday?"

"In four weeks. Will that give you enough time?"

"I imagine so."

"Great. Do you want me to pay in advance?"

"No, just pay when you pick it up."

"Thanks so much," Akane said, waving as she went out the door. Checking her watch, she had just enough time to put on her disguise and get positioned in her hiding place before Dr. Tofu came to pick up Kasumi.

Having taken great pains to make sure that Kasumi knew she was busy for the evening Akane didn't want to risk being seen, so behind the dojo, Akane shimmied out of the skirt and shirt she had been wearing and put on Ranma's barely used school uniform tucking the other clothing in her bag to use later. Luckily, the uniform was a charcoal grey, so that it would camouflage her as she trailed them down the street. Tucking her hair up in a cap, she climbed up onto a part of the wall that she could see the front gates, but wasn't easily spotted, and there, she waited and watched the sun go down. Soon, Dr. Tofu came strolling past her and she called out his name.

"Dr. Tofu."

He jumped high in the air and looked around.

"It's me, Akane. I'm going to be nearby all night, ok?

"Really? Oh, you're a life saver," he gushed, and Akane could feel the gratitude rolling off of him in waves. He took a step closer, "That's a really great disguise. Where'd you get an outfit like that?"

Akane just blushed and said, "You're going to be late."

Reassured, he walked up to the front gate with much more confidence then he had moments before. She watched as Kasumi opened the gates and shyly greeted the doctor. Akane held back, she didn't want to eavesdrop on their conversation so she did her best to keep them just in sight and judge how things were going from Dr. Tofu's body language.

The walk to the restaurant was almost uneventful. At one point Dr. Tofu started to lose it and Akane pulled the cap down low over her face and quickly walked past the couple, ringing her little silver bell. Dr. Tofu responded to the sound as he had trained and calmed down enough to tell Kasumi a diverting story of the time he accidently confused Giardia and Gonorrhea. Akane heard her laugh from up the street and smiled that things were going so well. When they got to the restaurant, Akane traded the uniform shirt for a white silk shirt and a dinner jacket. She slipped on a pair of glasses and put on a black wig that made her hair look like Mousse's. Then, she waited in the foyer of the restaurant for the couple to walk in. When they came in Akane could see that Dr. Tofu's eyes were starting to have a slightly crazy, glazed look about them, so she rang her bell again. He straightened up and was bold enough to place his hand on the small of Kasumi's back to guide her to their table. When he turned around to look at Akane, she winked and smiled at him. Paying the Maitre'd an exorbitant tip to be placed at the table directly behind Kasumi, Akane took her seat. She sat down smiled encouragingly at Dr. Tofu before propping the menu up on the table to block them from view, her small silver bell on the edge of the table ready to be used.

Ranma knew they were going to a nice Italian restaurant, and so he dressed the part. Changing in to girl, he put on an especially fluffy dress he headed down to the place he thought they would be. As he walked by the front window, he saw Dr. Tofu and Kasumi talking. They were alone. Where was Akane and her date? His heart suddenly felt lighter in his chest. Ha! He thought to himself she probably couldn't find a date. Smiling he looked back and Kasumi and Dr. Tofu when his eyes fell on a slightly creepy looking guy hunched down behind a menu. The guy was twirling his hair between his fingers and staring off into space. It was a decidedly feminine gesture, in fact, it reminded him of Akane when she zoned out in class. His eyes narrowed. "Why that little…" he mumbled under his breath and swept into the restaurant.

* * *

Akane looked up in surprise when the seat across from her was pulled out by someone. Her mouth turned down when she saw it was Ranma. He sat down and put his menu up like Akane's and leaned in close so he could talk over the table.

"You little thief! Those are my clothes and those are my glasses," he said snatching them off her face and putting them on his. "I was going to wear them tonight."

"What are you doing here?" Akane hissed at him, peaking over her menu to make sure Dr. Tofu was still in his seat.

Ranma ignored her question. "Is nothing sacred to you? You came into my room and rifled through my stuff."

Akane blushed. "I was going to put it all back."

The waiter walked up and, smiling down at Akane he said, "What can I get you to drink tonight, Sir?" She looked at Ranma and waited for him to answer. When the silence was long enough to be uncomfortable Ranma kicked Akane under the table. Akane then remembered that she was dressed as a boy.

"I'll have a lemonade."

"And for the lady?" the waiter said, raising his eyebrows and turning to Ranma.

"I'll have a lemonade, as well," he simpered, batting his eyes at the waiter. This prompted Akane to kick him under the table.

Quickly peaking around the menu, she saw Dr. Tofu fidgeting with his fork. He was spinning it so quickly in his hand Akane was worried that he was going to take out someone's eye, so she rung her little bell. Quickly, he set the fork down and peacefully placed his hands in his lap.

Akane turned her attention back to Ranma who was looking at her with a dubious expression on his face.

"What are you doing here and what's with the bell?"

"I asked you that question first," she countered ignorining the part about the bell.

Ranma gave a shrug, and lied through his teeth. "I saw you in the window and I wanted to know why you were sitting in an expensive restaurant dressed as a guy."

"And you just happened to be dressed as a girl when you were walking by: wig and all; how fortuitous." Her countenance and tone expressed her disbelief.

At that moment, the waiter showed up and brought the drinks. "Are you two ready to order?"

Ranma looked at the waiter for a moment and realized the waiter thought they were on a date. His first inclination was to deny that is was a date, but at the same time he was here and Akane was here and…well he didn't even have to ask her, so it was a sort-of-date. He would be a fool not to take advantage of the situation especially since he knew Dr. Tofu was paying for the food. The irony of their situation wasn't lost on him. His first date with Akane and he was the girl.

"No we're not ready yet," he giggled to the waiter. Taking his menu down, he started to read through it.

"What are you doing? You're not staying," Akane said when she saw that Ranma meant to order.

"Why?" he asked absently, "have you ever had the veal, here?"

"No, I've never had the veal…but that doesn't matter because you are leaving."

Trying his best to sound casual, he said over his menu, "Why are you spying on Dr. Tofu and Kasumi? I thought you were over him a long time ago."

"I'm not spying…" she started, but Ranma cut her off.

"What are you going to order?" he asked.

"I was thinking of the ravioli…stop distracting me. You're going home. I don't need you here causing trouble. I don't want to draw attention to myself, and you, Ranma, _always_ draw people's attention."

"Hmmm…the ravioli, that sounds good, but I think I will get something else." His tone was distracted.

"Are you listening to me? You have to leave." Reaching over, she tried to pull the menu out of his hand, but he jerked it away.

His eyes searched her face. "I'm not leaving until you tell me why you are stalking your sister on her date." He knew that Akane didn't like Dr. Tofu anymore. He was pretty sure, but she had been spending a lot of time with him lately and maybe some of her old feelings had resurfaced.

"Forget it. I'm not going to tell you. I promised," she said huffily, taking her menu down so that she had a clear view of Dr. Tofu's table. He was still talking to Kasumi, but he had managed to unscrew the salt and was absently pouring it into his water. Akane rung her bell.

The waiter walked up and took their order. An uncomfortable silence fell on the table.

"So why did you go to Mr. Izumi's without me?" he asked, not meeting her eyes. All of his concentration was focused on the fork he was adjusting on the napkin on the table.

Akane smiled a mysterious smile and Ranma's heart sped up just a little.

"I needed to do some secret stuff without you."

"It seems like you have been doing a lot of stuff without me," he observed.

Startled Akane looked at Ranma. His cryptic comment and undecipherable tone left Akane at a loss as how to respond.

"Sorry I went without you, but I had other errands I needed to do and I didn't think you'd want to come."

"I understand," he said. His attention was now focused out the window.

She reached across the table for his hand in an effort to get him to look at her. Ranma looked up at her touch. She had such a warm light in her eyes that he accepted her explanation and smiled back at her. Akane withdrew her hand and placed it in her lap.

The waiter brought their food and they sat and talked. Their conversation was occasionally interrupted by Akane ringing her bell, but they both felt secure in the anonymity that their disguises offered. Safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't be disturbed, their conversation flourished. Akane remembered how funny Ranma could be and he basked in the knowledge that he was the one making her laugh. She had happy smile on her face when the waiter brought their after dinner tea. Somehow, as the waiter was setting the tea on the table, he tipped it into Ranma's lap who changed back to being a guy.

"What?" the waiter exclaimed, and took a step back bumping into Kasumi, who knocked over her drink onto Dr. Tofu, who immediately jumped back out of his chair. This caused his chair to topple over and the top of the chair caught the handle of the dessert, cart flipping the contents of the cart up into the air. Tiramisu, biscotti, and pizzelle rained down on the other customers and Ranma made a run for it. Dodging a bowl of gelato, Akane picked up her silver bell and ran after Ranma. She found him in the alley behind the restaurant, cursing. Assuring herself he wasn't leaving that second she slipped back into the restaurant bathroom to change.

* * *

He couldn't believe his luck. Things had been going well, too. This curse was more than just turning into a girl. It ruined everything. Sighing, he stripped out of the dress. He was going to have to walk home in his boxers― again. Leaning forward, he lightly banged his head on the wall. A small hand on his shoulder caused him to jump around.

"Here" Akane said offering him his school uniform. She had changed back into her skirt and shirt. The wig was gone and she had a large bag slung over her shoulder. Looking up to give Ranma some privacy and to distract herself from his exceptional physique, she noticed a vent opening above her in the wall. She started stacking crates underneath it so she could climb up there.

"Akane, what are you doing, now?" Ranma asked, buttoning up his shirt.

"Well, you got me kicked out of the restaurant and I still need to help Dr. Tofu and Kasumi. Do you think I could fit up there?" she asked.

"That depends, how much of that ravioli did you eat?" he sniggered.

Shooting him a death glare,she climbed up the crates and lifted the grate over the duct.

"It's open," she breathed delightedly. Putting her silver bell in her mouth she hoisted herself up and into the opening. Crawling on her stomach, she noted that there was enough room for her to slither comfortably, but she couldn't sit up or turn around or anything.

"What are you doing, Akane?" Ranma's voice floated up to her.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Go home, Ranma!" she yelled back down. Her voice echoed oddly in the air-conditioning duct.

"Akane!" he shouted back. When she didn't answer, he hopped up on the crates and followed her into the shaft. Looking above he could see Akane's feet just above his head. She was lying on her stomach, her face illuminated from below. She was obviously looking down into the dining room. He could hear her ringing that stupid silver bell.

"Akane," he whispered harshly.

"Ranma," she said, not bothering to disguise the annoyance in her voice. "Go away!"

This last comment infuriated Ranma. There was no way he was going to end his sort of first date with Akane by having her tell him to go away. Turning onto his side, so there would be room for both of them, he reached up and wrapped his hand around her ankle.

With a strong tug on her ankle, Akane slid down the duct and was wedged between the conduit and Ranma. Her hands were trapped between their two bodies, resting on his chest and his hands were trapped resting on her hips.

"Ranma, what the… my bell! You idiot!"

When he pulled her down, her hands flailed above her head and the silver bell slipped out of her hand. It was now sitting three feet above where her head rested. She tried to move her arms above her head to reach for it, but they were jammed between her body and Ranma's. When she realized that her hands were immovable she began to squirm around in an attempt to free any part of her body.

"I can't move," she said.

Ranma shifted, but was distracted by his hands trapped on her hips. They were curvy and they sloped so alluringly into her small waist. Despite everything he'd ever said, he was never able to convince himself that her hips were anything other than perfectly suited to her figure.

Ranma became still in direct proportion to Akane's wiggling. He leaned his head back and let out a hissing breath between his teeth. In an attempt to distract himself from Akane, who was completely oblivious to the effect she was having on him, he mentally took stock of his position. He was trapped in a small space with Akane. The chances of them getting interrupted were nil. She couldn't hit him, run away, or move back. If she looked up her face would be only inches from his. He could kiss her and there would be nothing she could do about it. Ranma shook his head; this line of thinking was only going to make things worse for him. He would be a cad of the worst sort to take advantage of the situation, but at the same time, her wiggling was quickly making short work of his noble intentions.

"Akane!" Ranma said in a hoarse voice "What are you doing? Stop it."

Akane ignored him and continued to wriggle, "I fit up here just fine, what were you thinking, climbing up here when there is obviously not enough room for both of us. How are we going to get out of here?" she asked.

"I want to know what is going on―why won't you tell me?" He asked.

With resignation in her voice, she said, "I promised Dr. Tofu that I would help him."

"Help him what?" Ranma's mind was grasping at anything but Akane who was still trying to wiggle her way back up to her bell. Unfortunately for him her leg brushed the inside of his thigh and he started.

"Akane!" Ranma shouted, "Stop. Moving."

Akane stilled at once. She lifted her eyes up to look at Ranma and her breath caught. He was looking at her very intensely. His hands were unconsciously bunching and unbunching the material at her hips. Unable to maintain his piercing stare she let her eyes drop. She could see the pulse beating in his throat and his heart was beating very quickly beneath her palms. He smelled good. Ranma always smelled good. She didn't know if he used aftershave or if he just had a smell. It couldn't be his laundry detergent because they used the same kind and her clothes never smelled this good. Shooting Ranma a furtive glance, she leaned her head forward between her hands and deeply inhaled in what she hoped was an undetectable way.

Ranma didn't hear her breathe, but as close as they were he certainly felt the deep rise and fall of her chest. He started to sweat. Looking up he noticed the duct stretching out above his head. It was really hot. How was it possible to be stuck in an air conditioning duct and there be no cool air? It was so typical of his luck.

"Ranma…" Her voice was breathy and low, and the sound of his name resonating in her mouth sent a shiver up his spine, the movement driving them closer together.

"We need to get out of here, I think it would be best if I moved down. Your shoulders are the widest part of you and my hips are the widest part of me, and I think if I tried to climb up that would just get us more stuck."

The mental image of Akane shimmying down his body caused Ranma's mouth to go dry and his tongue seemed to swell up in his mouth. He nodded his head once and then tilted it back and tried to draw in more oxygen.

Akane was slightly taken back when Ranma passed up the opportunity to comment on the expanse of her hips. Slowly, she started to move her body down his by shifting one hip at a time.

Ranma felt every undulating movement. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear the ambient noise from the restaurant , but it wasn't enough to block out her small, quick breaths or the sound of their clothes rubbing against each other. Her smell filled his nostrils and he was enjoying and dreading every movement. When Akane had worked her way down to just below his bellybutton she started talking.

"I think I should try to get my arms above my head."

He could feel her hot breath and the movement of her lips through the thin silk of his white shirt. It didn't help things that his shirt smelled like Akane because she was the last one to wear it. He sucked in some more air and instinctively tightened his abs. Kevlar, Ranma thought. Next time I am wearing a shirt made of Kevlar, silk was much too thin.

Her hands and arms were slowly working their way back up his thighs and Ranma was pretty sure that he was going to spontaneously combust. She got to a point where her elbows were near her chest and she was having a hard time getting them up past her shoulders. Hoping Akane was too intent on getting out to notice his reaction to her, he shifted his hips as far back as he could. This gave Akane just enough room to violently wrench her arm above her head.

"I did it!" she exclaimed and looked up at Ranma, who immediately let out a low moan. He wasn't going to have to worry about embarrassing himself anymore because Akane just had racked him hard with her elbow.

At first, Akane was confused that Ranma wasn't as pleased with her efforts as she was, but it only took her a moment to realize what happened.

"Oh my gosh, Ranma are you ok?" Her face was the color of a cherry. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

He managed to nod.

Quickly Akane freed her other arm and squirmed the rest of the way out of the tube.

With her feet back on solid ground she called up to Ranma in a small voice. "Are you ok?"

"Fine," replied his disembodied voice.

"Can I do anything for you?"

"No, you've done enough, thanks." Color filled Akane's face. "It's partly your fault. I told you to go home." He didn't answer.

"Can you get my bell?" she heard a shuffling noise and the bell came bouncing out into space. She caught it.

"Are you coming out?" She felt stupid to be talking to a grate six feet above her head.

Ranma could hear Akane, but he was still reeling from the speed in which he went from exquisite pleasure to excruciating pain. Lying on his back, the air conditioning finally kicked on and he was encompassed by ice cold air. Taking a few deep breaths he decided that he needed to just lie where he was for a few more minutes.

"In a minute," he answered.

"Ok, I guess I'll see you at home."

"Sure."

Picking up her bag she slung it over her shoulder. Walking out of the alley her mind was on the boy she left behind and their sort of date. She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head she saw a man with a table cloth tied around his neck like a cape running down the street and singing his own theme music. He was followed by a lovely young woman with a soft voice calling his name.

"Oh no…" Akane's stomach dropped, and she took off down the street.

Sorry people. As much as a try, I don't seem to be able to crank these chapters out faster than 2 months apart. Thanks so much for your patience and all the reviews. You are a delight to write for. Next Up: Kasumi makes her own plans, Cologne and Akane have a talk and we learn more about Akane's new dance partner.


	8. Chapter 8

Hippocrates

Chapter 8

Leaving Ranma in the alley she felt sick in the pit of her stomach. _What was she doing messing around with Ranma when tonight was supposed to about Kasumi and Dr. Tofu_, she thought. Dr. Tofu running down the street with Kasumi following made her heart break a little for her sister. Her date ended because she racked Ranma and that was embarrassing, but it wasn't as bad as having a date run away down the street. Quietly she followed them.

Her first instinct was to run to her sister and comfort her, but she squelched that feeling knowing it would humiliate them both to have her obviously interfere at this point. Deciding she needed to first stop Dr. Tofu she darted down a side street and around a corner. There, she waited for the white tablecloth that Dr. Tofu was wearing to come into view. When it did, she made a spectacular flying leap and tackled him to the pavement. They came to a sliding halt near a small community garden.

Knowing that Kasumi was going to come around the corner she rolled with him over to the small wall of a raised cabbage patch and, using all her strength, she heaved him up and over the edge; where he landed in soft, rich smelling earth and she scrambled after him. Not daring to ring her bell within Kasumi's hearing, she quickly stuffed Dr. Tofu's mouth with the table cloth and wrapped him in a bear hug, preventing him from flailing around and alerting Kasumi to their hiding place.

When Akane heard Kasumi's footsteps fade away; she pulled out her bell and rang it close to Dr. Tofu's ear. His eyes cleared and he looked at Akane in astonishment and dismay. She pulled the table cloth from his mouth and lifted her head over the shallow garden wall. She could see Kasumi's figure retreating to the opposite end of the street. She lowered her head resting it just below Dr. Tofu's chin.

"Akane? What happened? Where's Kasumi?" he asked.

Quietly she whispered, "She's still out there on the street. Let's wait to see if she is going to turn around and come back down this way."

"I lost it, didn't I? I lost it and left her alone at the restaurant…" His voice was anguished. He could feel Akane's head nodding up and down. "What am I going to do? It's hopeless."

"It's not hopeless. It was my idea to use a bell to uncondition you. What a stupid idea. It's not like I can follow you around forever." Lifting her head and seeing the coast was clear, she sat up. Dr. Tofu did likewise and brushed himself off. They stepped out of the cabbage patch and made their way thoughtfully and silently up the street.

"Did you have a good time?" Akane asked, breaking the silence.

A small smile graced the good Doctor's features. "Yes, I had a wonderful time."

"Don't give up yet, we'll figure something out," she offered encouragingly. The two of them walked side by side, engrossed in their own thoughts until they came to the Dojo.

"I'll see you at work on Monday?" Dr. Tofu asked.

"No, remember I needed the night off because it's dance tryouts."

"Oh right. You won't miss our training session? It's the least I can do to help you, even if there is no way out of my mess."

"No, I'll be there." She turned and walked through the gate. Doctor Tofu took a moment to rest his head against the wall and close his eyes in self-condemnation. He startled when he heard his name called by Ranma who was walking up to the gate.

"Hey, Doc. Did you just come back from dropping off Kasumi?"

"Something like that," he abstractedly answered.

Something in his tone made Ranma look closer and see just how dejected the doctor looked.

Solicitously he asked, "Things didn't end well?" The doctor snorted. Ranma could more than relate. His sort of date with Akane had ended much more painfully then he would have liked.

"Girls." Ranma said.

"Yup." Said the doctor, and the two men stood in companionable silence and looked out into the night.

ooOoo

"Kasumi?" Akane said softly, opening her sister's bedroom door and peeking around the edge. Kasumi was sitting on her bed with her back to the door. Her shoulders were hunched over and slightly shaking. Seeing this Akane stepped into the room and cautiously approached the bed.

"Kasumi, are you alright?" There was some kind of muffled response and a nod of her head. Stepping closer, Akane lowered herself on the opposite side of the bed.

"Oh Akane! What did I do wrong?" Kasumi said, flopping back on the bed with tears running out of the corner of her eyes.

"Nothing. You didn't do anything wrong. You know how funny Doctor Tofu gets sometimes. You were everything perfect, graceful, and charming. I wish I had half of the poise that you showed tonight."

Kasumi gave Akane a watery smile. "That's nice of you to say, but since you weren't there you can't know if that's true. He left before the date was over. I must have done something."

Giving her sister a weak smile Akane attempted to cover her blunder, "I'm sure Doctor Tofu was just having…some kind of…moment. I wouldn't be surprised if he called you and asked you out again."

"Oh, Akane. Sometimes when it comes to boys you can be so naïve. When a boy doesn't ask you out, or when he finally does and it doesn't end well…there's just no hope."

Akane could only nod because her throat was suddenly tight. She thought about how she'd abandoned Ranma in the vent after..oh geeze…totally humiliating herself. With a deep sigh of her own she flopped down next to her sister, and the two of them lay on the bed in indulging in an estrogen charged pity party.

ooOOoo

Akane heard a tapping at her window.

"Go away, Ranma." Akane moaned. She threw her arm over her eyes in an attempt to block out the light and the sound. Sunday was her only day to sleep in. She didn't run on Sundays because between dance, training and running she was just too tired. After her discussion with Kasumi last night Akane tossed and turned trying to think of some way she could help her sister and her friend. Nothing came to mind and she finally fell asleep only to have unsettling dreams of Ranma and her kissing in an air vent. This made her even less excited to see Ranma than unusual. Lifting her head, but not opening her eyes she said, "Go away, Ranma," more emphatically in the direction of the window. As she lowered her head she rolled onto her stomach and picked up her pillow and smashed it over her head.

The tapping got louder. Swearing into her mattress she threw her pillow at the window and she flinched when she heard it knock the lamp off her desk. Pushing herself up from the mattress, she directed an icy glare at the window.

"Ranma!" she growled, "Why are you bugging m…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed that it wasn't Ranma, but Cologne that was tapping at her window. Detangling herself from the twisted bedding she padded over to the window.

"Cologne what are you doing at my window?"

"I needed to talk to you before the lunch rush. Do you have time to meet me now?"

"Now? I'm not even dressed. Why do you want to talk to me?" Akane asked, more than a little distrustful of Shampoo's great grandmother.

Cologne knew that Akane's suspicious nature was going to be the first obstacle to her plan, but years of observation had taught her Akane's weaknesses.

"I noticed that you were calling out to Ranma when I started tapping on the glass."

Akane blushed furiously as flashes of her dream came to her mind. Shrewdly observing this, Cologne pressed on. "This must be his preferred mode of claiming some privacy. Does he often visit you in your room?"

"What? No! I mean sometimes he comes to the window, but I don't let him _in_." Akane protested vehemently.

Satisfied that the girl was flustered enough to do anything Cologne stated, "I'll see you in ten minutes outside the front gate."

Akane couldn't give Cologne the satisfaction of having her every command followed, so twelve minutes later she met Cologne at the front gate.

"Shall we walk?" Cologne's small hand gestured down the street. Akane fell into step next to her.

"What is this about?" Akane asked. She knew somehow this was going to all tie into a way to get Ranma to marry Shampoo, but the details were lacking.

"In our village there are many different trades. The highest honors are reserved for warriors. Naturally, Shampoo is in a prime position to rise in the hierarchy of our village due to her exceptional fighting skills." With satisfaction Cologne watched Akane's complexion darken; thinking to herself how simple it was to manipulate the girl. "Of course there are some skills that Shampoo doesn't have that are also prized, to a lesser degree, in our village. Skills such as healing…" she let her voice trail off tellingly.

Akane looked over at her surprise.

"I heard you are using ki to heal people, is this correct?"

Astonished, Akane said, "I am. How do you know about it?"

"Mousse told me that you use compassion as your channeling emotion."

Akane nodded.

"That is a very powerful emotion for a healer. I assume Dr. Tofu introduced you to the technique."

Akane nodded again.

"Did he tell you that with an emotion like compassion you can do more than just heal."

Akane stopped walking, warily she asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"I often share Amazon techniques when I can see a person is worthy. I have spent many years watching you and I think you could learn what I want to share with you."

Guardedly, Akane asked, "What do you want to show _me_?"

"I already explained, that even though your particular skill is not as valuable as others, I would be fool not to recognized its usefulness." Reaching inside her robes Cologne pulled out a scroll and silently handed it to Akane. Holding her breath slightly she waited for Akane to take the scroll and sent up a silent prayer that the girl believed her explanations.

With slightly trembling fingers Akane took the scroll and stared at it in disbelief and bewilderment. So many times she had watched Ranma and Ryoga learn things from scrolls. New techniques that made them better fighters―mostly. It seemed somewhat unreal that Cologne would take the time to teach her. Gingerly she unrolled the scroll and with eager eyes feasted upon the writing. With a gasp she rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Cologne.

Deflated and annoyed she said, "I don't read Chinese."

"What?" Cologne opened the scroll and gave a rueful chuckle. "Sorry," she said, reaching in her robes for another scroll, "This should be the translation."

Miffed, Akane took the new scroll from her and opened it roughly. Her eyes scanned over the paper. She read the words _Chinese Amazon Extraction Technique._ Studying the parchment she took in the diagrams. The first picture showed a person with a large smile on their face, standing with their hands at the temples of a seated person who had a frown on their face. The second showed a look of concentration on the standing person and the third showed a smiley face on person sitting and a frown on the person standing.

"I don't understand." She said, after studying the scroll, "Why anyone would want to use a technique like this."

Cologne knew that she would need to be very careful with her next explanation or the Tendo girl would see through her motives.

"As you can see from the diagrams the purpose of this technique allows you to use your ki to remove negative emotions from people. You could remove pain, sadness, or even fear from a person."

"I read that. What I want to know is _why_ a person would use this technique?" She pointed to the last picture with the person who was standing with a frown on their face. "The emotion doesn't just disappear; it transfers to the person using their ki. Why would someone willingly take on another person's emotional garbage?"

"Well," Cologne said cautiously, "many Masters use this technique to eliminate weakness in a student who hasn't been able to conquer the weakness themselves. Suppose you knew someone who had a fear. You could take that fear away. Because you aren't predisposed to fear the same thing there is a good chance that you could conquer the fear with little trouble and have no negative effects at all. In a backwards sort of way, the emotion would disappear. It's quite a noble use for martial arts, protecting the weak in an elemental way."

Akane looked at Cologne and back to the scroll deep in thought. Was _this like the Shi Shi Hokodan where the negatives our weighed the positives? When would something like this ever come up? Did she even know anyone who could benefit from this?_ She thought of the people she knew_, Kasumi? No she wasn't afraid of anything except her ovaries shriveling up, hardly a crippling emotion. Nabiki? She was off at university, and her fears were unknown. Ranma, he was terrified of cats. She wasn't, but still there was no desire to take that kind of burden upon herself. Ranma had lived with his fear of cats since before he came to live with her. He'd yet to do anything too dangerous and at times it was useful. She used it on occasion to get rid of Shampoo… Damn it!_

"Cologne," she said stiffly, rolling up the scroll, "I don't think I am interested in learning this technique." She attempted to hand it back, but Cologne made no move to take it from her.

Cologne, knowing Akane put two and two together, decided that she needed to be ruthless.

"Akane, don't outright reject this. I really believe that you could be of some use to people with this, especially Ranma."

"Right, I could. It would be really convenient for you if he suddenly lost his fear of cats. It certainly wouldn't hurt Shampoo's chances would it?" she said bitterly.

Cologne smiled at Akane falsely and said, "I know that you are disappointed about the wedding, but you had your chance and he didn't pick you, so now you should step aside and let him choose the person that will really make him happy."

Every word out of Cologne's was almost physically painful for Akane, but she wasn't about to show it. Lifting her chin she looked directly into the wizened woman's eyes and said, "Just because he didn't pick me doesn't mean I have to help you." With her fists clenched around the forgotten scroll she stomped back towards the house.

ooOOoo

Monday morning Akane walked into the dance room at the school and was immediately approached by Rina.

"Hey. We're ready to work on that new number," she said.

"Ok, teach me the steps."

"Let me give you some background on the dance. This dance originates from Brazil. It is an amalgam of three major cultures. You have influences from the Brazilian martial arts known as Capoeira. As a student of martial arts you probably already know that this was invented by African slaves brought over to South America during the colonial period." Akane nodded having discussed this form of martial arts once with Ryoga who had somehow found his way to South America and back. "Also there is the Latin influence from the people that came from the Iberian Peninsula to live in the new colonies. Additionally there is influence from Natives who lived in the Amazon River basin and beyond. These three influences have created a really unique and exciting dance. It's called the _caçoar_.

That means "To tease" in Portuguese. The dance was originally a mating dance for the natives…"

"Mating dance?" Akane asked uncomfortably, "you mean like…_mating_?"

Rina smirked at her, "Yeah, mating. Only for the natives this meant that you were picking the person you wanted to be bonded to for life. It was the same as a modern day wedding ceremony. Anyhow, it has to be performed with a boy, of course; so after school we will be having a few tryouts." Moving over to a corner of the room Rina directed Akane to a circle on the floor.

"You are confined to this circle," she said, gesturing to a taped circle on the floor about eight feet in diameter. "The object of the dance is to keep unwanted males out of your circle."

Akane smiled up at Rina, "I thought you were going to give me something hard to do."

"I know." Rina grinned back. "When I was researching what dance to do I thought this would be right up your alley. It's not hard, but you do have to do things to the rhythm of the music; and of course, you can't knock your partner unconscious before the song ends."

Rina turned on some music with a definite Latin beat and begin to show Akane the basic steps of the dance and how to cross the circle. Everything was done in four counts, like most dances, but because the circle was larger than what could be crossed in four steps Akane was forced to lengthen her stride from her normal gate.

"Not bad," Rina said, "But I want you to make sure that your leg is fully extended like this." Rina demonstrated. As she stepped it was almost a glide and her stepping leg was fully extended to the toe, while the leg that followed almost skimmed across the floor. Akane copied her.

"Very good. Now remember this dance has Latin influence and the music has a Latin beat so the judges to the competition will be looking for movement in your hips."

"My hips?"

"Sure, watch." Rina demonstrated the lengthy step and swayed her hips as she shifted her weight; and the move, which was almost like classical ballet before, became earthy and provocative. "You try."

Akane tried and it was a little stunted. Rina smiled at her and suggested, "Listen to the music. It is very hard to listen to Latin music and not sway your hips a little."

Akane closed her eyes and concentrated on the music. She took her first steps and caught the rhythm and soon she was flitting across her circle hips and all, and actually enjoying herself.

"Good, good, now I will explain how your partner fits into all this. Remember this dance was originally a mating dance and so your partner's first objective will be to come into your circle, but in order to do that he must be touching you. Contact with the female on the inside of the circle was considered an invitation to share a life so the male, your partner in this case, will do everything he can to touch you and thus claim his mate. If you don't want him, don't let him touch you."

Akane muttered, "Geeze you make it sound so primitive."

"It is. That's why it's such a fun dance."

"Can't I just stand in the middle of the circle and then he can't touch me?" Akane pointed out logically.

"No, you can't, every eighth beat you need to have crossed the circle. Part of the fun of the dance is that your partner is trying to predict where you are going to be next; because he has sixteen beats to get to where you are."

"Why do I have eight beats when I can cross the circle in four?"

"The rest of the beats are for fancy foot work." Rina then spent the rest of the morning's practice showing Akane steps that enhanced her movement within the circle.

Panting and walking to the locker room to shower and change, Akane asked, "How does the Capoeria fit into this?"

"Well, if you wanted to you could actually fight your partner as he approached you; but remember, that as soon as he touches you he has an invitation to be in your circle so you would have to drive him out. Chances are the person you will be dancing with won't be a martial artist; that is unless you think Ranma is going to try out…" Rina let her sentence trail off delicately.

Akane snorted, "Fat chance."

"Well, since that is the case we are just going to encourage you to dodge and not actually punch anyone."

ooOOoo

It was hard for Ranma not to notice the rumors flying around the school about the dance team tryouts. By lunch he'd heard rumors that crossed the whole spectrum of possibility. In Gym the boys were talking about how Akane was going to be dancing in a bikini, and during English he heard whispers that the dance wasn't only going to be with Akane, there was also supposed to be a live goat involved. Ranma knew that nothing he heard could possibly be accurate, but that didn't stop him from seeking Akane out at lunch just to make sure.

"Hey," he said, seating himself across from her.

"Oh hi Ranma," she said pulling her chopsticks out of her bento.

"I heard some people talking about tryouts for that dance thing you got roped into," he started awkwardly.

"Yeah, they are having them tonight after school. I need a partner for a new number they have added."

"You don't think any guys would actually show up do you?" Ranma asked. Thinking that after all these years the boys of the student body should know better than to try and dance with his fiancée. Akane looked at him, affronted.

Defensively she asked, "You don't think anyone would want to dance with me?," her voice saturated with sarcasm, "Just because _you_ don't want to; doesn't mean that no one does."

"That's not what I meant!" he shouted. As heads in the lunchroom turned he lowered his voice. "I just meant that when you are involved, these things usually turn into some kind of fight."

"Oh yeah, well whose fault is that?"

Ranma was insulted. "It's not my fault. You are the one that always gets sucked into weird competitions, and when you run into trouble you come to me to bail you out."

"I've never done that!"

"What about the martial arts gymnastics. I wore a leotard to help you!"

"Fine one time," she conceded huffily.

"What about the Romeo and Juliet play? You wanted me to play Romeo so you wouldn't have to kiss Kuno."

"That's not true; you butted in because you wanted a trip to China."

"Whatever, I saved that play. I even had to pretend to kiss Kuno to keep things from going down the toilet."

"Sure you were pretending."

"I used tape!"

"Pleeease. You are ridiculous. Your kissing Kuno had nothing to do with me. You did it because you wanted to."

"Are you out of your mind? You must be, because no one who is sane would even consider kissing Kuno as a good thing."

"You did it in about two seconds. It took you minutes to even work up the courage to kneel by me and try to pretend some interest… actually I think I had to beg you just to pretend." More to herself, she said, "It was obvious even then."

"What was obvious?" he asked, not quite sure at what point their conversation had gone from an argument to some kind of personal introspection for Akane.

She didn't answer right away. In fact, she was silent and staring off for so long that Ranma had to call her name to remind her that he was still there.

"Ranma, remember Nabiki's graduation?" she thoughtfully asked.

"Yes."

"Do you remember me telling you that you owed me?"

"Yes." He said, slowly drawing the word out so it was somewhere between a question and a statement.

"I thought about what I want. I want your word that you will do nothing to interfere with this dance competition. You won't intrude at tryouts or rehearsals or do anything other than watch the actual competition. I don't want you dressing up in disguises or feigning an interest in dancing that doesn't exist. I want your word of honor that you will leave the dance competition, and everything leading up to it, completely alone."

He paused for a moment while he considered her motivation. _Was this some kind of way for her to be alone with her new partner_, he thought. _No_, he dismissed the idea. _She didn't even know who her partner was yet._ Snorting he brushed his hair out of his eyes, "Yeah sure. I can do that. It's not like I was going to tryout myself or anything. I mean… It's not like I want to dance with you…" He trailed off and cast a covert glance at the girl in front of him. He was searching for some kind of expression of disappointment or maybe he was hoping her face would soften and she would plead with him to tryout, but she didn't.

"I know," she said softly. Not wishing to discuss it any further she caught the eye of her friends and beckoned them over, effectively ending their conversation.

ooOOoo

Ranma left the lunch room in a foul mood.

"Stupid Akane," he mumbled to himself. "Hey, 50 yen!" He said bending down to pick up the shiny coin. When he looked up he saw Ryoga with his fist in the wall above him glowering down.

"Oh hey Ryoga." he said pocking the money. "Where've you been?"

"Hokkaido"

"Oh yeah, Hokkaido via Nagasaki, perhaps?"

"Shut up Ranma!" Ryoga said, throwing a useless kick in his direction.

At this at that moment a group of students passed by discussing the tryouts for Akane's dance partner.

Ryoga's attention was diverted for a moment by Akane's name and he took a fairly strong punch to the stomach. Stumbling back a few steps he looked up at Ranma and asked, "What's this about Akane and dancing?"

"It's nothing, just some stupid competition Akane got suckered into doing."

Not trusting Ranma to give him entirely honest answers; he turned his attention to a passing student and grabbed the boy by his shoulders, intensely and dramatically he asked the student for details, shaking him.

Stuttering slightly the boy said, "They are doing the tryouts in the dance rooms and the guy who is the best gets to dance with Akane in the competition."

Ryoga clenched his fists in happiness, forgetting he was still holding the student's shoulders, "A chance to dance with Akane. It's too good to be true!"

The student whimpered as he lost all feeling in both arms.

"Which way to the dance rooms?" Ryoga asked, looking intently at the boy who could no longer raise his arms. The boy just jerked his head down the hall and said, "Down that way and to the right."

Abruptly releasing the random student he turned and sprinted down the hall and to the left.

"Stupid Ryoga," Ranma said, "Hey man, are you ok?"

The student nodded and awkwardly walked off in the opposite direction of Ryoga his arms unmoving by his sides.

Ranma made his way out of the school holding the coin in his hand and thinking of Akane and what he was going to do about her. She was growing more and more distant and he didn't know how to fix it. _She didn't want him at the tryouts, well that was fine with him_, he thought, kicking a rock on the ground. He didn't want to watch her make an idiot of herself with some other guy.

"Ranma!" Shampoo's high voice rang out across the deserted school yard.

Ranma grimiced. He didn't trust Shampoo farther than Kasumi could throw her. Jusendo taught him that she had no honor, but he was torn between his resentment for her and the ego stroke spending some time with her would be.

"Shampoo." He said, trying not to be overly welcoming, "What are you doing here?"

"I have delivery for boys in the dance room. Come with me, and then we go on date?"

Ranma mentally, reviewed his conversation with Akane. She hadn't actually forbidden him from watching the tryouts, just from meddling. It wasn't meddling if he showed up with Shampoo just to watch

"Yeah, I'll come with you."

ooOOoo

Ryoga turned the corner and looked around for what he hoped was the dance room, but was confused by the all pottery wheels that were in the room. "What? Where am I now?" he asked no one in particular.

"You're in the pottery room you idiot!" Ukyo's voice floated up from behind one of the kilns in the corner.

"Then this isn't the dance room?" Ryoga was looking around as if Akane would suddenly appear behind one of the tables.

"No. It's the pottery room."

"What are you doing in here?"

"I am making a new crock for my special sauce. Ranma broke my last one when he passed out right after drinking all of it. Are you wanting to go and watch the tryouts?"

"No," he said blushing and touching the tips of his fingers together, "I wanted to tryout. You know…er…dance with Akane."

Ukyo looked at the blundering boy in front of her. Sometimes he was so pathetic that she couldn't help but help him; other times he annoyed the crap out of her. Today he was as pathetic as they come.

"Do you want me to take you to the dance room?"

"If you're going that way; I don't want you to make a special trip or anything. I can just find it myself…unless you are already walking in that direction."

"Come on, you directionless jerk."

ooOOoo

**Author's notes:** I am discovering that writing is a lot like chess. I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time just getting people to where they need to be for a very few scenes of action. Thanks for your patience. Things are moving along. This chapter morphed into two chapters like 4 and 5 did; which shouldn't be that big of a deal except that it throws off my outline, and my once 20 chapter plan has gone out the window. I suppose I could write longer chapters, but that just means longer waits and as a fanfic reader I like shorter chapters (not too short) and more frequent updates. Too bad I can't live up to my own standards. I kept revising and rechecking this chapter, but I am sure there are still errors in here. They are mine alone and not my wonderful prereaders. I ended up adding almost 3000 words to this chapter and so I had to divide it. That makes good news for you because the next chapter is mostly written.

Thanks for all the reviews. They really keep me writing, especially when I don't feel like it. I am willing to sell my soul for reviews. If the Simpsons have taught me anything it's that you can sell your soul, as long as you don't sell it to Milhouse. If you leave me a signed review I will be happy to respond and include a blurb from the next chapter to tide you over until I finish it. Yes I am a review whore. I make no apologies.


	9. Chapter 9

Hippocrates

Chapter 9

There was a line of boys out the hall. Rina looked at Akane and asked if she was ready. Akane said, "Sure, but I can't be here all night. I need to be at Dr. Tofu's to train by six."

"Ok, we'll get through as many as we can. I will look over the rest without you and let you know in the morning."

After six or seven boys made an attempt to dance with Akane, both Rina and Akane were feeling a little bored. Most of the boys were incompetent at best and laughable at worst. Rina's attention soon left the boys and her suggestions were directed to Akane as she flitted around the inside of the circle. Both of them were so engaged with her moves that when a boy actually infiltrated Akane's circle and got his hands around her waist, she reacted instinctively and punched him hard in the face.

"Akane!" Rina shouted, "We've been over this! You're not supposed to actually punch your partner."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I just did it without thinking," Akane replied, contritely rushing over to the boy who had blood pouring out of a cut on his eyebrow.

He scooted back like a crab, looking at her; apprehension in his remaining good eye as she approached.

In a soft voice she said, "Please let me help you with that."

The boy just stared at her silently. Akane gently removed his hand and placed hers over the cut. Using her ki, she healed the boy as a large line of other males looked on.

Smiling a little, she asked, "Does that feel better?"

The boy didn't answer but his look had gone from apprehensive to adoring as the memory of Akane's compassion filled his mind and body. Quickly grabbing her hand in both of his, he attempted to look soulfully into her eyes. "That was wonderful. Was it good for you?"

"Err…" she uttered, trying to delicately remove her hand from the death grip in which he was now holding it. "Thank you," she said, tugging a little harder.

"No, thank you," he replied, his look changing from adoring to a feeble attempt at a leer.

Now seriously tempted to hit him again, Akane jerked her hand free and rose to her feet. Just then Ryoga, who saw the last half of their interaction, parted the crowd and rushed to Akane's side.

"Get your hands off her."

"Ryoga! What are you doing here?"

Gripping Akane's hands, he blurted, "Let me dance with you."

A random boy from the crowd shouted, "He can't dance with Akane! He's not even enrolled at this school."

Rina shrugged, "Since when has that mattered?"

Akane looked at Ryoga. "Look, it's really nice that you want to dance with me, but this is a tryout, meaning you'll have to tryout, like everyone else," she finished, smiling in a friendly way at Ryoga.

At that moment Ranma entered the dance room with Shampoo. He saw the small group of people in the corner and immediately noticed Ryoga holding Akane's hand. Trying not to grind his teeth, he made his way over to Ukyo.

"What's going on?" he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the group, as if they weren't worth the effort of even raising his hand to point.

"Ranma!" Ukyo smiled happily at him.

Ranma repeated his question.

"I'm not sure. When we came in the bloody guy was pawing Akane and Ryoga went over to stop it."

Ranma's eye's narrowed, "Pawing?"

Seeing her fiancé's dark expression, Ukyo reconsidered her words. "Perhaps pawing is the wrong word. He was holding her hand. Not that it should matter to you, after all I'm your cute fiancée."

The bloodied student chose that moment to reach up and stroke Akane's cheek.

"Hey!" Ranma shouted, but his voice was lost to the sound of Ryoga's fist making contact with the boy's face.

"Ryoga, you can't just punch him!" Akane blustered.

"Why not? You just did," Rina observed.

Turning her back angrily on both of them, she bent down and tried to summon the emotions to heal him, but all she could feel was self consciousness and annoyance at this boy's audacity.

"Are you going to do it again?" smiling, he asked hopefully.

"I'm trying." Closing her eyes she thought about his bleeding nose and how unfair it was that he got punched by Ryoga of all people, but in her heart of hearts she knew he deserved it.

"I'm waiting."

"Look, I'm doing my best here. Your nagging isn't helping things and I would probably be able to focus more if you quit looking at me like that," her tone was filled with impatience.

The boy's smile widened, "Like what?"

"I don't know, you're looking at me like I'm doing something …" she fished to find the right word that wouldn't put the wrong idea in his head, "too friendly," she finished lamely.

"It does feel pretty good, I mean, you make me feel like you care about me."

Blushing Akane dropped her hands and backed up. "I don't even know you. I wasn't trying to make you feel anything, I was just fixing your eye because I punched you."

"My eye?" the boy reached up and felt his brow, "Wow! What a great trick!" he enthused and then his face fell. "You mean you weren't trying to…send me any kind of signal?"

Flabbergasted, she yelped, "NO!"

"You could," he said, equal parts shy and sly, "send me a signal."

"That's it," she groaned, standing up. "I can't help you, and if you don't knock it off I'll let Ryoga punch you again."

She took a rag from Rina and handed it to the boy to wipe up the blood on his face.

He goofily smiled at her and, from behind the rag, said, "Akane, would you go on a date with me Friday?"

"No. I don't even know your name."

"Saturday? It's Shiro."

"No."

"Sunday?"

"The lady said no!" Ryoga jumped in.

"Ryoga, butt out. Listen, Kenta…"

"Shiro"

"Whatever. It's not that I'm too busy to go out with you; it's that I don't want to."

"Ouch, Akane, that was harsh," Rina remarked.

Taking a deep breath, Akane tried to recapture her patience; it seemed as if her life was run by people bent on offering outside commentary. She turned to the boy and in a softer tone of voice she said, "I just can't imagine dating anyone at this terribly busy time in my life." With a bit of a sour smile, she turned and walked back toward the circle.

"That would have been believable if you hadn't already told him you weren't too busy," Rina whispered in her ear. "What was that thing you did with your hands?"

"I'll tell you later," Akane mumbled.

She then noticed Ranma standing between Ukyo and Shampoo. More importantly, she noticed that Shampoo was wrapped around the right side of his body with her arms twined around his neck, and Ukyo was attempting to pry her arms off of him. His eyes were bugged out and his face was slightly blue and little "urking" noises were coming from his throat. _Serves him right_, she thought, and she tromped into the middle of the circle.

Wiping her sweaty hair out of her eyes she nodded to Rina; who called everyone to attention and restarted the tryouts. Akane took her place at the middle of the circle as her newest potential partner took his stance on the outside of the circle.

Trying not to think about Ranma, and the fact that she couldn't heal what's-his-name, Akane rolled her shoulders as if readying herself for battle. The music started and she tried to concentrate on moving across the circle, but she was, out of habit, keeping a jealous eye on Ranma. As a result, a boy from the hockey team made it in the circle and caught her by the wrist. She immediately punched him.

"Akane! Stop punching people!" Rina yelled, exasperated, and stopped the music again. "This is going to take all week to get through," she grumbled.

Fortunately for the boy, he was wearing his hockey mask and the punch didn't do much beyond sending him flying across the room.

"You know," Rina said drily, "I really thought you would be better at this."

"Only violent Akane punch boys instead of dance," Shampoo loudly commented. Apparently their human tug of war was over and they could now pay attention to the other people in the room.

Ranma sniggered. Akane blushed. Uyko looped her arm through Ranma's. "She does have her special way of charming the boys."

The hockey player recovered his footing and said, "Akane, I'm hurt."

"No you're not," she snapped. "Next!"

Walking back to the middle of the circle Akane vowed not to punch anymore people. The music started and Godzilla boy from the drama club stepped up. He kept tripping over his tail, and she quickly tuned him out. Unfortunately for Akane every time she crossed the circle in the direction of the line of boys she could hear snatches of their conversation.

"She made him feel special?"

"Do you think you have to be bleeding to make it work?"

"Was it just because it was Shiro, or could it be any boy?"

Akane looked at the line where what's-his-face was. He was still talking to the male population of Furinkan and understanding dawned. She closed her eyes.

_What have I just done_? she thought.

* * *

"Why you here?" Shampoo sneered at Ukyo.

"I brought Ryoga. What about you?"

"Boys order ramen. They like, especially when Shampoo bring." She smiled a charming smile and did a little finger wave to some boys across the room, who blushed and shyly waved back.

Not to be outdone, Ukyo whipped out her portable okonomiyaki grill and started cooking. "Unlike some people, my food stands on its own. I don't need any _cheap_ tricks to get customers to eat my food." Deftly flipping the pancake and adding cabbage she called out, "Come and get it!"

A small line of boys quickly formed in front of her grill. She smirked at Shampoo.

A student quickly called out, "I'll have one."

"Sure thing sugar," Ukyo quipped.

Disengaging himself from the two girls, Ranma made his way over to Ryoga, who was still standing where Akane had left him. Ranma was unsure if Ryoga was immobile because Akane told him to butt out or if he was worried that he would get lost finding the back of the line. Ranma suspected it was the latter.

"How'd you get here?" Ranma asked.

"Ukyo brought me. What are you doing with Shampoo?" Ryoga, while not party to the entire incident at Phoenix Mountain, was less blind about it than Mousse. As a result, he understood that Ranma's perceived unfaithfulness with Shampoo at the Jusenkyo guide's house was in an effort to somehow help Akane. Seeing him with Shampoo today was a surprise considering how Ranma had given her the cold shoulder most of the trip home, and when she'd tried to push Akane off the ship it had taken him, Mousse, and Mr. Saotome to keep Ranma from returning the favor.

"She showed up and asked me to help her with a delivery."

"Figures you would."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that only you would be stupid enough to pass up the opportunity to dance with Akane by wasting time with Shampoo." Turning away, Ryoga continued his train of thought to the wall behind him. "When Akane and I finally meet to dance, it will be the ultimate physical expression of long held feelings!" In his mind's eye he could see Akane clinging to his strong, manly form with stars in her eyes as he whirled her around the dance floor; a bruised and tattered Ranma watching longingly from the background.

"Are you still babbling, Ryoga?"

"Ranma!" Ryoga shouted, turning to face the pigtailed boy and pointing a finger in his face. "I will be the one to dance with Akane, and you can't stop me!"

Ranma batted Ryoga's hand out of the way.

"You can have her. I'm not going to tryout. The last thing I want is to be seen trying to look graceful with that…"

He gestured to Akane who, at that moment, tripped over Godzilla man's tail and landed on her face.

"You would give up this chance? And you call yourself a man." Ryoga's voice was strong with derision and he shook his head in sorrow for the gross injustice Ranma was to his sex.

Akane, who was embarrassed by her fall and the laughter coming from Ukyo and Shampoo, stomped over to Ranma.

"You promised me you wouldn't interfere," she said accusingly.

"I haven't done anything. I'm just standing here."

Ryoga unabashedly watched their argument.

"I told you that I didn't want you around. You promised."

"It isn't interfering if I just came to watch," he defended and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine," she humphed, "but remember, you promised to leave things alone. You owe me," and she marched back to the circle and Godzilla man.

Ryoga couldn't believe his luck. Did he actually hear that Akane made Ranma promise not to bother her?

"Ranma," he said jeeringly, "did you really promise Akane what I think? Did she make you promise to stay away from her?"

"Shut up, Ryoga," Ranma said, looking around at the other students. Their attention was diverted by the guy with blood on his shirt, and Ranma was relieved that the student body hadn't heard Ryoga's comments.

Boy, she must really not want to be around you," his rival scoffed.

"I said shut up!" Ranma snarled.

"She tossed you aside, and made you promise to go along with it," Ryoga added, starting to laugh.

Ranma looked at Akane. She didn't seem to be paying attention to anything but the line of boys. Leaving Ryoga behind to laugh, Ranma strode across the room to where Shampoo and Ukyo were still arguing.

Ryoga, who was just hitting his stride as far as Ranma insults were concerned, followed him.

"She tells you to stay away and you still follow her. You must really be desp-"

Ryoga's insults were effectively silenced as Ranma bashed him in the face with Ukyo's grill. The noise was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the room.

"Hey, that's my grill!" Ukyo shouted.

"Sorry, I needed it for a moment."

A few of the boys in the line took advantage of the diversion, and soon Akane was swamped by boys all shouting, "hit me, beat me."

"AAAAKK." Jumping out of the way of grasping hands, Akane ran behind Ranma.

The boys stopped.

Ranma turned to her, his heart lighter than it had been for weeks. Here she was, needing him. He just needed her to realize it. He smiled slightly. Rolling up his sleeves, he looked at the girl, cocked an eyebrow, and said, "Do you want me to interfere yet?"

At that exact moment Shampoo and Ukyo came from behind Akane and scooped her up.

"Hey!" she yelled.

"Here Akane," Shampoo cheerfully called, and she and Ukyo tossed Akane over Ranma's head into the crowd of boys.

Somehow, in all the grasping and groping Akane managed to crawl out from the bottom of the pile. Getting within hearing range of Rina, Akane heard her ask, "Why don't you just beat the crap out of them like you used to?"

"Are you kidding me? That's exactly what they want me to do. I won't give them the satisfaction. You know, I think it might be better if I just leave," Akane panted, hiding behind Rina this time.

" You're probably right," Rina agreed, as she watched the tryouts deteriorating before her eyes.

Rina was actually surprised at how well things had progressed to this point. As soon as she saw Ranma come in with the Chinese girl from the ramen house, she expected a lot more destruction. She certainly hadn't expected her to come in through the door. Ranma must be a good influence on her.

"I'll cause a diversion and you can slip out. I'll see you tomorrow," Rina said over her shoulder. Akane nodded and, without waiting, slipped out of the room.

No diversion was necessary because, upon waking up amidst the pandemonium, Ryoga immediately blamed Ranma. Ranma watched as Akane slipped out of the room. With no reason to stay and the chance to walk her to Dr. Tofu's, he started to leave, but Ryoga's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Way to mess up the tryouts, Ranma!" Ryoga bellowed. "I didn't even get a chance to dance with Akane yet. Now how am I supposed to be her partner?"

"Me? I didn't do anything other than show up and watch you make a jerk of yourself over Akane. Then she punched some guys and left. How could I possibly do anything to screw that up?"

"You humiliated her by showing up with two girls on your arms, and you let them insult your fiancée. If I had a girl as great as Akane, I would never treat her like that," Ryoga blustered.

"Do I need to remind you that you showed up with Ukyo? And you do have a girl that great. Her name is Akari, or have you forgotten the one woman who loves the real you, pork butt?"

Ryoga blanched, but recovered quickly. "After Jusendo I thought things would be different. I thought you were going to man up and do more than just halfheartedly stake your claim. You've had your chances, and I really meant to step aside, but I can see you're still up to your old tricks, Ranma. I won't let you treat Akane this way!"

"What way?" his voice was low and dangerous.

"You no yell at Ranma like that!" Shampoo voiced, followed quickly by Ukyo.

"Ryoga, Ranma never does anything that deserves Akane's anger, and he didn't do anything more than watch from the side. I was here the whole time, so lay off," Ukyo stepped in.

"I don't need you girls to defend me from him," Ranma snapped at them.

Shampoo drew a sharp breath at his rebuke.

"Well," Ukyo huffed.

"Ranma, I'm sorry to do this to you but it's karma. You've strung Akane along long enough. You're only getting what you deserve." With that ominous statement he turned to the two arguing girls. Ranma moved to make his escape, but was pulled back by Ryoga grabbing the back of his shirt and holding it firmly.

"You ladies do know how to settle this, don't you?"

"What you talking about, pig boy?" Shampoo asked.

With a sly look at Ranma, he took a deep breath and said, "It's obvious the reason he hasn't picked either of you is because you aren't woman enough for him."

Shampoo and Ukyo's eyes widened as they considered what Ryoga just said.

"Humph, Shampoo woman enough for any man," she dismissed his comments with a wave of her hand.

"If that's true, why is he trying to leave here without you? There must be some way you're lacking. We know that it isn't your looks." Ryoga's smile was getting bigger and bigger as he spoke. Shampoo was vain enough to be certain there was no external flaw, and Ryoga knew that Ranma had called Ukyo cute. "And we all know what amazing cooks you are, so the problem must lie in other areas. Perhaps you are lacking in other womanly arts."

"Shampoo no lacking any art." She twisted her body seductively and looked at Ryoga, who started blushing at her overt display.

Ukyo, who was a little more receptive to the idea of having a flaw, asked, "What kind of womanly arts?"

Embarrassed, Ryoga mumbled, "I don't know…flower arranging…sewing…creating a household budget on a spreadsheet…" his voice trailed off. Ranma snorted. It was just like Ryoga to talk the talk, but be unable to walk the walk.

At Ranma's snort, Ryoga's head came up and his eyes narrowed. He loudly pronounced, "Kissing. You could both be inadequate for a man of Ranma's…needs."

Ranma's jaw dropped in horror and disbelief. Ryoga didn't just sic those two girls on him. He couldn't be that cruel. Sure they weren't the best of friends, but most of the time they could get along if Akane wasn't involved. Ryoga wouldn't do something so cold blooded.

* * *

Walking to the clinic, Akane was thinking about the boy she couldn't heal. Her utter lack of compassion surprised her. She'd assumed that healing with ki got easier with practice and that she would always be able to do it. Kind of like a superpower she'd learned how to use. It was a bit of shocker to find out that her abilities were limited to her ability to feel compassion. What would she do if she had to heal someone she didn't like?

Thinking on these things she trudged into the clinic. Dr. Tofu noticed the look of discouragement written all over her face and, if he hadn't seen her expression, the way she flopped down on the waiting room couch told him everything he needed to know about her afternoon. She lay like a patient waiting to talk to her shrink.

"How were tryouts?" his voice was gentle and cautious.

"Don't even ask!" she moaned behind the arm that was flung over her head. "It was a disaster! I am so stupid. I didn't listen to what you said about people feeling traces of the compassion I use and now I've made a mess of things."

"Your healing has made a mess of things?"

"Yes, I made the mistake of healing a teenage boy."

Dr. Tofu looked at her for a moment then he burst into loud unrestrained laughter. Akane looked at him astonished and a little piqued. Dr. Tofu attempted to gain control of his emotions, but one look at Akane's expression sent him into fit of unmanly giggles.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he gasped. "Am I to understand that you healed a boy and he mistook your compassion for something…more affectionate?"

"Yes," her reply was barely civil.

Still trying to contain his giggles, Dr. Tofu asked, "Did he ask you out?"

"As a matter of fact, he did," she sniffed and crossed her arms over her chest. This sent Dr. Tofu over the edge into raucous laughter and he wiped his eyes and held his sides.

"I'm sorry. I just remember being a teenage boy and if someone like you touched me and…" but he couldn't continue for laughing.

"Oh honestly! I'm going to change. When you regain control I'll see you out back." She stalked down the hallway with his laughter following her.

Both of them were sweating and on the porch drinking water and feeling much better after a hard workout. Akane was starting to see the humor in the situation, although a part of her feared what would be waiting for her at the gate tomorrow.

"Akane, you didn't ask me about my day," Dr. Tofu broached.

Akane perked up. Maybe something good happened with Kasumi. "Oh. Do you have some good news? I would love to hear it after today."

"I got a phone call from an old associate of mine. His name is Dr. Fukuoka. Every three years or so he takes a break from his practice and does a year of service in medically inadequate areas of the world. He was wondering if I wanted to go with him this year."

"What! You aren't actually thinking of leaving are you?"

"Well, since things aren't working out with Kasumi, I was seriously considering it. I told him about you. He wants to meet you."

Akane blinked and cocked her head to one side. "Me? Why would he want to meet me?"

"He's interested in your healing abilities."

"Why? He's a doctor. I'm nothing," she reasoned.

"Our abilities save mercy missions thousands of dollars in supplies. You're actually quite valuable."

"How?"

"Think of all the things they won't need to spend money on: gauze, band-aids, sutures, lydocaine, steri-strips, gloves and that's just for cuts and gashes. What about antibiotics? There would hardly be a need because if you heal the skin you reduce the risk of infection considerably. The list is literally endless. Not only do they not have to pay for these supplies they don't have to pay for transport. Additionally, having you help with the immunizations is a huge selling point for the locals. Having them watch how you calm the children will make them more receptive to the idea of outside medicine. They are more likely to accept it, and with immunizations come improved health in the villages. If I teach you how to heal bone you'll be even more useful. They are prepared to pay you well." His voice had warmed to the subject and his hands became animated as he gestured to make his point.

"This is unbelievable. You come home and ask for help with my sister and now you're thinking of jumping ship. How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Only a few hours, I just got the call this afternoon."

"You would really just leave my sister again?" Akane was growing angry.

"Is it leaving if you were never really with someone?" he retorted.

Resignedly her voice was pleading, "I keep telling you that she likes you. You like her. I'm not sure why I'm the middle man. You should just tell her."

"Oh, I'm sure that will work. Knowing me, I will confess my love to a pickle. If that doesn't make the ladies swoon, I don't know what will," his voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad," she muttered before taking a drink. "Things are going to work out; I just haven't figured it out yet."

"Dr. Fukuoka will be here in three days to talk to me. I would consider it a personal favor if you met him."

"Three days. I can't come up with a solution in three days."

"Then it's a good thing we have more options before us," he said softly. "Now let's work on healing bones, just in case."

* * *

Akane walked wearily into the house. It seemed the whole weight of the world was weighing her down. She had no solution to the Dr. Tofu/Kasumi dilemma, and today she'd inadvertently piqued the interest of the boys at her school again. They were all so stupid she couldn't even begin to predict what the ramifications of this afternoon's tryout debacle were going to be. Taking off her shoes, she rounded a corner and saw Kasumi.

"Akane." Kasumi grabbed her by that arm and escorted her upstairs to her room. "I have a plan."

"A plan?" Akane asked, lowering herself onto her sister's bed.

"Yes, it's brilliant. I came up with it when I went to get my hair cut today. I was at the beauty shop and there were all these magazines and I started to look through them. I was thinking about my problem with Doctor Tofu and I think I've come up with the perfect solution. It was written right there. All sorts of tips and advice in one of the magazines and an idea came to me… At first I thought I could never, but the more I read the easier the magazine made it seem. I mean, after last night it is obvious he doesn't want to date me. I mean, I would prefer to be married of course, but sometimes a woman has to take matters into her own hands. It isn't like there are a lot of other options for me, and he has such wonderful genes. He's healthy too."

With an awful sense of foreboding Akane looked at her sister. "Kasumi, what are you talking about?"

"Well, look right here." She pulled out a fashion magazine and turned to the appropriate page. Akane looked at the title of the article and her eyes widened.

"Where did you get that?" she gasped, blushing.

"I…um…borrowed it from the beauty shop."

"You borrowed?"

Kasumi was blushing and didn't meet Akane's eyes. "I'm going to return it as soon as I don't need it anymore, but that's beside the point. Look," she said, gesturing to the article before she jerked it away to read the lines herself. "There are all sorts of good ideas in here," her voice rose from behind the magazine.

"I still don't understand what your plan is," Akane said, trying to follow her sister's rambling conversation.

"It's obvious, silly. I'm going to seduce Dr. Tofu."

"What!"Akane's hands fluttered helplessly in front of her face in an attempt to convey all the disbelief her voice couldn't.

"And I'm going to need your help with this."

Akane's stupefaction was such, that she couldn't make a sound.

Completely unruffled, Kasumi continued, "I think that some of these suggestions require a trial run. I've read over them three times now and some of them just sound silly. Look at this one here," she pointed to the middle of the column. Akane's eyes were drawn down to the page and she silently prayed that there were no illustrations. She gaped when she read the words, but Kasumi seemed oblivious. "I've read a lot of medical texts and I'm pretty sure that it's anatomically impossible. Of course maybe Ranma, he's pretty limber…"

Akane stood up and, in a strangled voice, claimed, "I need a glass of water."

Rushing down to the kitchen, she filled a glass and downed it quickly. Her face felt hot and her heart was beating rapidly. She was just filling her second when Kasumi came in with her magazine.

Placidly she said, "I highlighted the suggestions that we should try. Now we just need someone to practice on. I was thinking Ranma because…well…he's here."

"You're going to practice these suggestions on Ranma?" Akane asked, her voice little more than a whisper, but very high pitched. She took another gulp of water and tried to gather her thoughts.

"He's not _my_ fiancé. No, I think it best if you do the practicing and report the results back to me."

Akane sprayed water all over the kitchen and started choking, at which point Kasumi put down her magazine and started patting her sister on the back. Akane put her hands on her head, like she did after a run, and tried to stop coughing. She began to agitatedly pace around the small kitchen coughing with Kasumi following her and lightly tapping her back. Just as she started to get control of her wayward lungs, Ranma walked into the room. She looked at him and all she could think was: "He's pretty limber…" Not being able to meet his eyes, she started choking again. Her face flushed cold and then hot. Helplessly she rushed from the kitchen and upstairs to her room.

Kasumi turned a curious stare to Ranma. "Is it me or does it seem like Akane has been a little high strung lately?"

Ranma's eyes were still on the door Akane just exited. When he didn't answer she continued, "I think it must be the stress of the dance competition. I, for one, will be glad when it is all over and things can get back to normal."

Ranma couldn't help but agree.

* * *

Author's notes: Sorry about the posting blib. I'm not sure what happened or why the last chapter didn't post. For those of you who got excited, I apologize. Up next chapter: We find out who Akane's dance partner is, Ranma finds out about ki healing, and Kasumi uses our favorite couple as a case study in seduction. If you leave me a signed review I will respond with a blurb from my next chapter. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. You guys are the best!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Akane was up early the next day, thinking of everything. What was she going to do about Dr. Tofu and Kasumi? What if she couldn't be more persuasive than his doctor friend and Tofu decided to leave again? What effect would that have on Kasumi? Kasumi had plans for Dr. Tofu. Admittedly they were odd plans, but at least they were with Dr. Tofu. What if he left and she got even more desperate? Kasumi was already stealing things and she had this idea that gratuitous sex was going to solve her problems; she was really only a few minor offenses away from a foray in child trafficking, and then what would happen?

So engrossed in her thoughts as she walk to school, she jumped back and put her hand over her heart when a figure emerged from the shadows.

"Mousse! What are you doing here so early?"

"Akane Tendo," he said, respectfully bowing, "I'm wondering if you could help me?"

Still trying to calm her beating heart she said a little breathlessly, "What do you need help with?"

He lifted the sleeve of his robe and revealed a long burn up his arm.

"That looks painful," she observed, reaching out and cradling his forearm between her hands. Absently moving her fingers over his skin, she missed the look of anticipation that crossed his features. Closing her eyes she pushed her ki out of her body and into Mousse's. The angry red blisters shrank leaving behind tender, pink skin. Hearing Mousse's sigh of contentment she looked up and saw his head was thrown back and his eyes were closed. Uncomfortable with the intimacy of the moment, Akane quickly dropped his arm and stepped back.

Slowly Mousse opened his eyes and looked into hers. "Cologne explained to me about the emotions involved," he paused. "I am feeling your compassion," he said, thumping his fingers lightly against his chest. The look in his eyes was so intense that Akane hoped it was a trick of his thick glasses making them appear that way.

"Uh…yeah. That's what Dr. Tofu said too." She felt she was in uncharted waters. Mousse had been so unfailingly faithful to Shampoo for all these years, to have him seeking her out early in the morning and to have him look at her like that was unsettling.

Trying to couch her rejection in the kindest way possible she was startled when Mousse suddenly asked, "Can you show me how to do that?"

She cocked her head as if she didn't understand Japanese. "I'm sorry?"

"Could you show me how to do that?"

"Why?"

"I would think it obvious. I want Shampoo to feel my love for her. I have been telling her and showing her for years, but I'm sure if she could _feel_ the depth of my passion nothing would stand in the way of making her mine!" He threw his head back and laughed triumphantly.

Taking a cautious step away from the crazed boy, Akane hemmed and hawed, "I don't know if it works that way, Mousse."

"Why not?"

"I don't think you can just project your ki into someone without there being some kind of side effects. I use my ki to heal. You know the side effect is that you can feel my sympathy, but nothing more. I mean you know I'm not in love with you," she gave a nervous little laugh.

"So I'll learn to heal too. I can come to Shampoo's aid when she gets hurt. It's perfect! I'll look sensitive and thoughtful then, Wham! I'll hit her with the full force of my emotions. She won't be able to resist me. How can I go wrong?"

Akane backed up two more steps and turned to make her way to school.

"Hey wait! Aren't you going to teach me how to use my ki?"

"Nope. Get Cologne to show you. She probably has some kind of scroll. I gotta go. I'm late." Waving she sprinted off, not wanting to hear anymore of Mousse's creepy plans for Shampoo.

ooOOoo

"Sorry I'm late Rina," Akane panted as she burst into the dance room.

"Oh hey, Akane. You're just in time to meet your new dance partner."

Akane took a look across the room at the boy who had one hand raised in a self-conscious wave.

"Hey, Akane," he said.

Akane looked from the boy to Rina to the boy again. Grabbing Rina by the arm, she frog marched her to the opposite corner of the room from her partner.

"Ouch. You've got a firm grip," Rina teased.

"Sorry." Akane dropped her hand. "Is this some kind of a joke? How could you pair me up with him? He's the biggest pervert in the school!"

Rubbing her upper arm and shrugging she said, "What can I say, he's got natural rhythm."

ooOOoo

Ranma got out of bed early when he heard Akane thumping around in her room. She did her best to be quiet in the morning, but she wasn't very graceful before she was fully awake, so Ranma could always tell when she got up earlier than usual. It helped that he was already awake and waiting for her. He knew today she was going to find out who her dance partner was. He had to go and make sure that it wasn't going to be Ryoga. It could be anyone but Ryoga.

Ranma and Ryoga's friendship was…twisted and dysfunctional, but it worked for them. Sure they fought each other and took shameless advantage of one another's weaknesses, but there were some lines they never crossed, and yesterday Ryoga crossed a line. Listening to the thumps and muffled curses coming from Akane's room, Ranma thought about his promise to her. It wasn't technically interfering with the dancing itself if Ranma found a way to get rid of Ryoga. It was simple really, just punch the guy out and then drag his body to some park in the next town. The dance competition would be long over by the time Ryoga found his way back. He heard Akane tiptoe down the stairs and exchange a few quiet words with Kasumi. He waited until she left and then slipped out behind her.

Slowly walking along the fence Ranma thought of his first moments with the girl he was following. Her rejection of their engagement had been brutal on him. Logically he knew why she'd balked at the engagement. It was for the same reasons he had, neither of them wanted to be forced into anything, but he was already insecure about his masculinity due to his unwanted dip in Jusenkyo. Akane's immediate acceptance of his girl side and her brush off of his male side had him looking for some kind of affirmation that he was, in fact, still a man. When she didn't treat him as such, it may have lead to his ill-chosen words that caused her to crush him with the table. Things only got worse when he saw the idiots that were all vying for her attentions. Compared to them, she should have been kissing his feet, or at least thanking him for showing her what a real man could be like. She should have done those things, but she didn't. She treated him with an indifference that was maddening…until Shampoo showed up, and suddenly Akane was far from indifferent.

When Shampoo showed up and Ranma realized that she wasn't going to kill him he was so relieved. At first he thought it was kind of a joke that she wanted to marry him, but she'd been more tenacious then he'd realized. It was nice to have her show up and prove to Akane that he was desired by someone. That just because he was a girl half the time didn't mean he wasn't a man.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't like it at first. Shampoo, on the surface, was amazing. She was the most skilled female fighter he knew. She was totally hot, could cook up a storm, and was a pretty snappy dresser. If he put Akane and Shampoo on a piece of paper and checked off things a girl should be, Shampoo would be the clear winner with one glaring exception: She was morally bankrupt. The girl had no character and no vision beyond what would benefit her. When she erased Akane's memory Ranma was willing to make allowances, but over time her scheming had just reinforced her selfishness. The question today was what to do about her persistence?

Of course the dance partner thing was only part of the reason he was up early. He also wanted to make sure to avoid Shampoo and Ukyo. Leaving early was only a temporary tactic, they were going to catch on sooner or later, but he would take what he could get. Walking down the fence, silently following Akane as she walked to school, Ranma thought about what to do about all the girls in his life. It wasn't a new problem, but Akane and her new job had shifted the dynamic of things and now it might be a real problem.

There were some things that Ranma could be dense about, but the slow changes that had been coming over Akane hadn't gone unnoticed. She was so confusing. There were times when they laughed and joked and talked just like usual and then there were times he could swear she was avoiding him. The fact that she had stopped hitting him, even though he'd deliberately provoke her, was also unsettling. There was a rhythm to their life and a pattern between the two of them, and she was disrupting things by being less violent and less open then before.

The last thought made him frown. He knew things couldn't stay the same forever, but he had no real plan now that changes were being forced on him. There was no question in his mind that he wanted Akane. The other girls would have to go, but he had no idea how to get rid of them. The girls were like a minor annoying habit; irritating to have around, but not worth the effort of breaking. What he needed was some kind of cunning plan and then the time to implement it.

He watched Akane as she took a deep breath of the cool morning air without savoring it like she usually did. He frowned at that. _She must have a lot on her mind_, he thought. She was meditatively making her way to the school. _What could she be thinking about? The dance competition? Him?_ His heart sped up at the idea of Akane thinking about him, _Thinking nice things about me_, he amended to himself. He quickened his step. As he got closer and her face came into view, he saw the scowl she was wearing. His heart sank a little. It was likely she was thinking about him, and it didn't look like nice things.

Just as he was working up the nerve to hop off the fence he saw Mousse appear beside her. He watched as they talked and then he showed her his arm and she began rubbing it tenderly. He scowled in their direction. Moving closer he tried to hear their conversation, but then he saw Akane back away and run off to school. Faced with the decision of following Akane or confronting Mousse, he chose the latter.

"Mousse!" he shouted. "What are you doing here so early talking to Akane?"

Mousse, being privy to the whole incident on Phoenix Mountain, wasn't completely oblivious to Ranma's true feelings. Thus he couldn't resist goading his rival.

"I was just getting Akane's help with something. She really is quite accommodating." Mousse innocently pushed his glasses higher up on his nose.

"What did you need _her_ help with?" Ranma asked, attempting to play it cool, but a small tick above his left eye gave him away.

"I just needed some information about her ki technique."

"Akane doesn't have a ki technique." Ranma was adamant.

"It shows how much you know about your lovely fiancée. And people accuse _me _of being blind." Mousse turned to walk away sure that his digs had hit home when, in a flash, Ranma was standing before him stopping his movement. Ranma's next sentence was interrupted by the sound of a bicycle bell ringing through the alley; before Mousse could blink Ranma was gone.

"Damn! Now I have two things I have to worry about with Akane," Ranma said to himself as he ran to the Furinkan High dance room. There was only one person besides himself that Ranma could see Akane learning a ki technique from. It was now doubly important that Ryoga not be allowed to be her dance partner. He needed to get Ryoga out of town, especially if Ryoga was the one helping Akane manipulate ki. Why didn't she ask him? As he thought about it he realized she did; just the other day. _What had he told her? That he didn't think she could master it. Way to go idiot. Why hadn't he picked up on it?_ Putting on a burst of speed he threw open the door of the dance studio with a loud bang. Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at him.

His eyes landed on a lanky looking boy at the far end of the room. "What are you doing here?" The words spurted out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Nervously looking between Ranma and the girl he claimed as his fiancée, the boy stuttered, "I-I was picked to be her partner."

Ranma's relief at not seeing Ryoga was so great that he offered Akane's partner a friendly smile. "I never thought you had it in you. Akane can be stubborn as a mule and she has the grace of a walrus on a treadmill, but more power to you."

"Hey!" Akane cut in.

Ranma could see from her expression that she wasn't happy with the choice. A gleeful smile lit his face. _It served her right if she was going to be dancing with boys that weren't him._ It wasn't Ryoga. That fact made things so much sweeter. Her partner was spineless, a few cracked knuckles and dark looks in his direction and Ranma wouldn't have a thing to worry about. It was nothing that couldn't be put off until Akane wasn't watching. Today was going to be a great day.

"Well I can see I'm not needed here." He patted Akane's back and gave her a little shove towards the boy standing across from her. "Time's a wast'n," he said cheerfully. "I'll see you two in class…Oh and good luck, Hiroshi. You're gonna need it." Whistling, he walked out the door.

ooOOoo

Trying to manfully repress the urge to skip, Ranma headed down the hall to arrive astoundingly early for first period. As he made his way down the hall, boys from all his classes were stopping him and asking about Dr. Tofu. What were his hours? Was he still on the corner? Some of the less intelligent boys started asking after Akane. When did she work? What time did she usually get off? When the third boy asked Ranma got suspicious; after the tenth boy he got angry and refused to meet anyone's eyes.

Why were all these guys asking about Akane again? Did it have anything to do with her ki?

Tromping down the hallway he had plans to flatten anyone who crossed his path until Ukyo stepped in front of him.

Smiling brightly she held out a wrapped package for him. "I got you a present."

Feeling slightly suspicious he took the present and said, "What is it?"

"Open it," she encouraged.

He ripped off the paper and found a three pack of flavored chapstick. _Why was Ukyo giving him…oh crap._

"I don't usually use chapstick, but thanks," he said handing back the package.

"That's ok," she chirped, rocking back and forth on her feet, "the present was really only yours in a roundabout way. I was going to be the one wearing it anyway." She smiled coyly and cocked her head to the side in what she hoped was an endearing manner. "What's your favorite flavor? There's strawberry, mango, and pina colada." Her eyebrows lifted and she smiled and waited. Her anticipation was palpable.

Even though he knew he should stop the conversation now and go have a friendly chat with Hiroshi; he couldn't stop himself and asked, "What's pina colada?"

"I think it's a mix of pineapple and coconut."

'Is not." Shampoo's voice was heard over the dull background noise that echoed in the halls of the high school. "Is pineapple and passion fruit." Before Ranma had a chance to react she had her arms around his neck and her fingers were twisting his braid.

"Hey idiot," Ukyo jerked Shampoo off his neck and Ranma felt his vertebrae crack as his neck was abruptly twisted to the side.

"Pina colada is pineapple and coconut, and Ranma doesn't even like that flavor, do you Ran-chan?" She batted her eyes at him. Ukyo was ok most of the time, but a simpering Ukyo made Ranma feel sick to his stomach.

"I don't use chapstick. I don't need it. I'll be seeing you ladies." He swiftly walked away and when it looked like the girls were going to follow him he ducked into the nearest boy's bathroom. He stood in front of the sink and tried to get a grip on his tangled emotions. Should he kill Ryoga for causing the display outside, or talk to Hiroshi about not even thinking about Akane, or should he find Akane and find out why she hadn't told him about her ki technique? Leaning forward he rested his head against the cool glass of the mirror and closed his eyes. What he needed was someone to punch. People who were challenging him were so much less complicated than the mess he now found himself in. He heard the door open and he didn't bother moving until a distinctly feminine voice said, "Out."

Ranma's head shot up and he saw Shampoo standing in the doorway of the lavatory. Looking around he realized for the first time that he wasn't alone. The two other boys made for the door immediately and Ranma noticed that one of them didn't wash his hands and made a mental note not to eat lunch near him.

"Shampoo this is the boy's bathroom."

She shrugged, "I no see boys. Only men." With a predatory look on her face, she advanced on him causing him to back up past the urinals through an open door of one of the stalls. When his heels hit the base of a toilet he pulled himself up and said, "Can it, Shampoo. I already said I wasn't interested."

She said nothing. In the silence he could hear Ukyo's voice outside the door, yelling at them both.

"You say you no interested, but Shampoo know better. Ranma will like Shampoo's kisses," she purred and Ranma wasn't sure if it was revulsion or fear that shuddered through him.

"No thanks." She lunged for him, but he was too quick for her and hopped on the toilet paper dispenser, and then to the top of the stall out of her reach. Pulling out her chui she twirled it in her hand and shook her head.

"Shampoo no understand. Why Ranma not want kisses? They too, too good," and with a lightening quick strike she hit the stall door he was standing on, forcing him to leap to the next and then the next as she demolished the bathroom. Ranma sprang over her head and landed on the sink. At this point the noise caused Ukyo to disregard her inhibitions and she opened the door saying, "What the hell is going on in here?" Ranma's attention was drawn to Ukyo and Shampoo exploited his weakness and threw her chui at him. Dodging the chui was easy, but dodging the glass shards that resulted from its impact with the mirror caused Ranma to lose his footing and his right foot came down hard breaking the spigot on the sink. Overcompensating, his left foot landed on the cold water faucet and frigid water sprayed the whole room. In an attempt to avoid the glass, the now female Ranma launched herself in Shampoo's direction, his mind not computing that she was now a cat.

Breathing hard he tried to get his bearings, but when he felt a weight on his back and small claws dig slightly into his skin he panicked. Ukyo saw her chance when Ranma started running around the bathroom with his arms flailing and shouting, "Get it off! Get it off!"

"I'll take her off if you come and have dinner at my place tonight," Ukyo bargained.

"Get her off! Get her off!"

"Dinner with me and your problems will be over."

"Fine, anything!"

Ukyo reached towards Shampoo and was rewarded with a hiss and a swat of sharp claws in her direction. Unfazed she pulled her spatula from her back and batted the cat to the other side of the room. Ranma ran behind her and hid her smaller form behind Ukyo's.

"One more thing Ranma or I'm going to move and let Shampoo have her way with you. You never told me your favorite flavor of chapstick." She busied herself by throwing small spatula's at the cat, who was hissing and spitting in her direction. Forced to retreat, Shampoo jumped up and exited a half open window high above their heads.

"What?" Ranma's attention was focused on the window.

"Just pick one so I know what to wear tonight?"

"Huh?"

"Strawberry, mango, or pina colada? Choose."

"Mango," she replied distractedly.

"Funny, I would have pegged you as a strawberry guy myself."

ooOOoo

Ranma Satome was frowning from the pitcher's mound. He had recently come to the conclusion that most of the boys in his gym class were morons. Gym was usually his favorite subject, but today all the kids in his class had been making such stupid mistakes that the game had ceased to be fun. Just now, Ranma could have sworn that the guy up to bat didn't even try to swing; he simply moved the bat so that the ball cracked him hard on the knuckles, sending the hitter to first base.

He looked over at the bench and half of the guys had injuries of some sort. Most of them weren't even paying attention to the game. They were busy watching the girl's gym class on the soccer field. Ranma turned in time to see his fiancée, Akane, score a goal. A small smile played at his lips, she was such a tomboy! He turned his attention back to his game and looked at the batter. He was the star hitter on the school team. The boy had been itching to take Ranma down a peg ever since Ranma accidently got into a martial arts basket weaving contest and soundly creamed the boy's little sister. The boy cocked his eyebrow at Ranma.

Ranma smiled and lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgement of the challenge and threw a pitch. The bat connected with a loud crack and the batter saluted Ranma before he sauntered to first base. Ranma watched as the ball sailed over his head into the outfield. He watched as the outfielder ran to meet the ball, but to Ranma's surprise he didn't lift his mitt. The outfielder positioned himself directly under the ball and waited for it to smack him directly in the face. Ranma stared, stunned, as the boy crumpled down on the grass.

"What the hell?" he muttered and sprinted across the diamond to see about his teammate.

Akane also saw the boy go down near her, and she abandoned her game to see what was going on.

"Hey are you OK?" she asked him kneeling by his side and brimming with sympathy. "Oh great! It's you," she said bitingly as she recognized the boy from the previous day.

An incoherent moan was all the response she got from him. She leaned over just in time to see his eyes roll back into his head. He had a lot of blood coming out of his nose and from the angle of it the nose looked broken. She felt someone run up behind her and looked up to see Ranma.

"Look at this mess," she gestured at the fallen boy with disgust.

Ranma, a little surprised by her lack of sympathy, said, "Gee, Akane, don't go overboard with kindness."

"You saw him! He let the ball hit him in the face."

Rubbing the back of his head, he agreed. "Yeah, it was pretty stupid. All the guys on my team have been acting like idiots today. I can't figure it out."

"Help me get him up to the school nurse. I don't want to do this here with your whole perverted gym class watching."

She bent down to scoop up the boy. With one of his arms slung over her shoulders she grabbed him by the hair. Peering at his face Ranma heard her murmur "honestly." Ranma lifted the other side of the boy, careful to avoid the blood that was still dripping from his nose. His mind was far from the task. He was wondering how Akane knew this kid and what she could possibly be planning on doing that she didn't want everyone to see.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked slightly alarmed.

"Don't be stupid, Ranma. I'm going to fix this, although he got what he deserved in my opinion." She grew quiet, reflecting on yesterday when she couldn't heal the boy because of a lack of compassion. Mentally she started trying to calm herself down in an attempt to be in the correct frame of mind necessary to channel her ki.

Ranma sensed her withdrawal and was fine with it. He had no problems following her and watching what she had planned. He also had no problems stepping in and stopping her from doing something stupid either. They made their way to the nurse's office and laid him down on the bed in there. Looking around Akane found a clean cloth to wipe his face. Gingerly she reached down and touched his nose. This was painful enough to rouse the unconscious boy.

"Here," she handed him the cloth before taking a step back. She folded her arms across her chest and frowned down at the boy. Ranma wasn't surprised to hear Akane angry, but he was surprised that it wasn't directed at him. He decided to sit back and let this unfold. This kid had obviously bent Akane out of shape and he was burning with curiosity to find out why.

With a hard edge she said, "It's broken, Haro."

Shiro mumbled something from behind the cloth.

"What did he say?" she asked.

"I think he said his name's Shiro," Ranma said, more than a little amused.

Ignoring Ranma, Akane continued to address the prone figure on the bed. "What if I can't fix this? Remember yesterday?"

Removing the cloth from his face Shiro said, "Ib, still be worb ib."

"What?"

"He said: _It would still be worth it_," Ranma translated.

Shiro nodded and did his best to beam up at Akane, but the swelling and blood somewhat marred the effect.

Akane expelled a large perturbed sigh. "Fine, let's do this and then you will stop pestering me. That's not a request." Turning to Ranma she said, "I can take it from here. I'll see you later."

"No way! I'm not leaving you here with this kid. Besides I want to see what you're gonna do."

"Ib's ok, you can leabe us," Shiro said.

"What?" Try as she might, Akane could not understand the boy whose ability to communicate was hampered by a broken nose covered by a cloth.

Ranma shot the boy an icy glare and turned his attention to Akane, who was addressing him.

"What do you mean you want to see what I'm going to do? You've already seen me do this before and you weren't impressed."

Pacing the small room, Ranma blurted, "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about healing with ki. I've been using my ki to heal," her hands flew up in exasperation.

"When would I have seen you do something like that? You're never home." Ranma was starting to feel irritated that she seemed to think he knew what was supposed to be going on.

"You saw it when you came into the office and I fixed your face after your brush with Ukyo's spatulas," Akane said quietly, somberly.

"I.." he stopped and recalled that day in the office. Unconsciously he reached up and touched his face. "That was you?"

"Of course it was me. Your martial arts skills haven't raised you to the level of a God yet," she sniped.

"Excuse me? How was I supposed to know what you were planning on doing? As far as I'm concerned you brought a guy up to the nurse's office and asked me to leave you alone with him, while you were going to do whatever.

Even though for the last two months Akane had been working on convincing herself that it would be impossible, the words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them. "Ranma are you jealous?"

"Me? Hardly! I'm just worried about smashface here," he gestured at the bed. "I mean he's stuck in here looking at you wearing those shorts. He's got enough problems without me abandoning him."

"I thibk she hab greab legs."

"What did you say?" Akane was only half paying attention; mostly she was inwardly cursing herself for giving Ranma an opening.

Ranma leaned menacingly towards the bed. "You just don't know when to quit."

Shiro unabashedly stared back at him.

"So? Are you gonna heal him or not?" Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and watched her expectantly.

"I…uh…yes. Yes I am."

Walking towards the bed she looked at Ranma, "I only started on bones yesterday, so I'm not sure…er, how things will work out." Addressing the boy on the bed she asked, "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

"Yes."

He had such an obvious look of eager anticipation that Ranma was hard pressed not to drag Akane out of the room, but he held his peace. Given the choice of putting Shiro in his place and observing a new martial arts technique, he'd pick martial arts any day.

The room was quiet and Akane fixed her eyes on Ranma. She drew to mind the memories that she had seen when she healed him. His loneness, his hunger, his struggles and instantly she felt the familiar sensation needed welling up inside of her. She pushed the feeling down her arms and forced herself to concentrate like Dr. Tofu taught her last night. Eyes closed, she visualized the bones mending, the skin healing, the vessels and capillaries closing, the bruises dissipating and the fluid draining. Hoping against hope that she had done it right she moved her hands.

Ranma had been watching Akane closely. Her expression was unfathomable as she stared into his eyes for a moment before closing hers. Watching, as an expression of bliss overtook the boy on the bed as he bonelessly submitted to Akane's ministration, Ranma tried to refocus on the technique.

Shiro felt the warmth of Akane's hand's leave his face and opened his eyes, smiling up at her. "Can we go out on Wednesday?"

She said nothing. Taking a step back from the bed, her eyes fixed on his face with an expression of alarm.

"Don't look like that," he prodded, "I'm not like all these other guys. You'll see."

"I'm still standing in the room," Ranma said, peevishly. "Good job, Akane. I think he got just what he deserves."

Startled out of her stupor she turned to Ranma, "I didn't do it on purpose. He's been annoying me, but I wouldn't…not on purpose…what am I going to do?"

Shiro's face lost his smug expression as he reached up and touched his nose. It was still there, but having a lifetime of experience with his own nose he could immediately tell that something was not right. Crossing his eyes he peered down his nose. It definitely looked like it was listing to the left. Gingerly he grabbed the tip and tried to move it back to the center of his face, but it wouldn't budge. Horrified he realized that she had healed his bones in the wrong position. The pain was gone because his nose was going to be permanently off center.

"I need a mirror," he croaked.

Ranma didn't move, so Akane left the room to see what she could find.

"You've been annoying Akane." It wasn't a question.

Only concerned for his nose Shiro didn't answer, he just kept running his fingers over his face.

"If I find out you have asked her out again; your nose will be the least of your worries, do you understand me?"

"Of course I understand you," Shiro snapped, "but it's not like you actually date her. You don't take her places; you go out of your way to insult her. It's not my fault if you've made her unhappy enough to consider me…"

He stopped speaking when Akane came back in the room with the mirror.

"I'm so sorry, Yuuta. I think I should take you to Dr. Tofu. He'll know how to fix this."

With a sly sidelong look at Ranma he said, "It's Shiro. I think that would be a good idea." Holding out his hands for Akane to take, she automatically stepped forward.

"Not so fast," Ranma said, stepping between them. "What's Dr. Tofu going to think when you show up with him like this? He's going to be mad that you were trying to heal bone before you were ready."

"I…do you think so? What should I do?" Akane was overwrought at her mistake. What was it about this kid that made it so hard to do what she did effortlessly in others?

"You should take o'le Yuuta," his voice emphasized the wrong name, "here to Dr. Tofu to have his nose healed."

"Ranma haven't you been paying attention," Akane grabbed Shiro's nose and jiggled it back and forth. "It's already healed that's the problem."

"It's not a problem if you take him to Dr. Tofu with a broken nose."

"Oh and how do you propose we break it again; another ball to the face?"

"Leave that to me, Akane." And Ranma drew his fist back.

ooOOoo

"Akane, is that you?" Kasumi's voice floated down the hall from the washroom.

"Yeah, it's me." Akane followed Kasumi's voice and found her frowning over one of her school uniforms.

"You know, Akane, you really need to soak the clothes in cold water if you have blood stains on them. I'm not sure I will ever get this blouse clean." She showed Akane the shirt that she wore on the day of Nabiki's graduation.

Kasumi chided, "I'm not going to even ask how you got blood on it at school."

"That's probably for the best. You didn't have to do my laundry. I was going to get to it this weekend."

"Nabiki will be home from university tonight. She'll be staying for the weekend, I am sure she will be bringing home a large bag of laundry to do while she's here. It's free to do laundry at home," Kasumi said with a small smile and a shake of her head.

Akane smiled back and took the pile of neatly folded clothes out of Kasumi's hands. "Thanks, Kasumi, you're the best." They heard Ranma calling as he entered the house.

"Oh!" Kasumi's hands flew to her face. "I went to the store today and found some perfume. Run upstairs and put your clothes away and I will meet you in your room."

Giving Kasumi a curious look Akane did as she was told. She just finished putting the last of her socks away when Kasumi came in the room and shut the door behind her. In her hands were two tiny bottles of perfume and a magazine. It was all Akane could do to suppress a groan.

"Ranma's home!" Her eyes were shining in excitement. Placing the bottles on Akane's desk she sat down cross legged in the middle of Akane's bed. "It says here that one of the first things you should do to get a man's attention is to smell nice, only their language is a little racier, but that is the gist of it." She looked up to see if Akane was following her and smiled at her own productiveness. "I already have things narrowed down to two different scents. I have your usual fruity preference in this bottle." She gestured to the little round, orange one. "It's honeysuckle and citrus. I also have my preferred flowery scent vanilla and lavender," holding up a tiny oblong bottle. "All you have to do is put them on and let me know which one Ranma likes best."

"I don't know if this is such a good idea. How do we know that Ranma and Dr. Tofu like the same smells? I could just take these to work and have Tofu tell me which one he likes. That seems like a better idea."

"Akane," Kasumi said firmly, "It's not only about partiality, but about learning how to wear a scent. Between the lady at the department store and this magazine I am convinced that a man's sense of smell plays an important part in the seduction process, and if I am going to do this right I need your help."

"Oh, fine!" Akane huffed and held out her wrists.

The magazine was flipped open and Kasumi used her finger to travel down the column, double and triple checking the way she did with a new recipe. Reading the instructions, she looked at Akane's outstretched arms and, dabbing each sent on separate wrists, said, "There are seven places that you are supposed to put it for maximum effect. They suggest the pulse points on the body. The first are the radial and the temporal," she dabbed a little more up by Akane's temple. "Then the carotid and popliteal," some perfume went on her neck and behind her knees, "and of course there is the femoral." Kasumi looked at Akane with a look of clinical appraisal and innocence; Akane almost felt like she needed to explain that the idea of needing perfume there was too embarrassing to give the suggestion any serious thought.

Blushing Akane awkwardly stood there and then finally asked, "Do you know where the femoral pulse is, Kasumi?"

Piqued Kasumi retorted, "Of course I do. I read medical texts for fun, or did you forget that? I'm just not as squeamish about these things as you are." She looked down at the magazine for reference. "The next three places are…" Before she could finish, Akane cut her off.

"I don't really want to know." Akane's voice was high with distress, "This should be fine. I mean we don't want to give him a headache or anything."

"Hmmmmm. Good point. Alright. You go and find out which one he likes the best and I will be right behind you."

"How?"

"What do you mean 'how'?" Kasumi blinked in confusion.

"How do I get Ranma to come close enough to me to smell me?"

Kasumi looked down at the magazine; her brow creased briefly as she flipped back and forth between pages. "It doesn't say. That's interesting. Why wouldn't they give you any tips on how to get close to a boy? How odd."

"I guess it's not good advice. No need to go forward with the plan after all."

"Akane!" Kasumi gently admonished, "If you feel strongly about it, of course I won't make you do this."

Akane bowed her head. What kind of person refused to help gentle, sweet Kasumi; a monster that's who. Speaking to the floor she decided to be forthright with her sister and gave voice to the thoughts that had been troubling her since Kasumi broached the idea.

In a small voice with her eyes fixed on the pattern in her carpet she said, "I don't think anything I do will come close to drawing Ranma's interest. I don't think this is going to work, not with me anyway."

Kasumi was quiet for a moment. "Well I think we should try this. If it doesn't work then the advice in the magazine wasn't worth what I paid for it."

This brought a smile to Akane's face and she reminded her sister that the magazine was "borrowed." Smiling back at her sister Kasumi stood up and put a comforting arm around her shoulders and gently guided her to the door. "You'll be great. Remember it's all for the tiny Dr. Tofus that could be running around if things work out like I hope."

Taking a deep breath Akane reached for the door handle and said over her shoulder, "I think you would be better off having little Kasumis." Taking strength from that image she marched downstairs to find Ranma.

ooOOoo

He was in the dojo. She walked in and, not wanting to interrupt him, sat down to watch him train. He was amazing; she could admit that to herself. Sometimes she took it for granted how good he really was. So many times he was placed in impossible situations and he always found a way to win, he always found a way to triumph. For those that didn't know him as well, this tendency was often seen as pure ego, and many times it was, but under the ego was a standard of perfection that he demanded from himself. In any other profession he would have been wildly successful simply because doing things less than the best didn't even occur to him. He was everything that was masculine and in the dojo in a gi covered in sweat, with the fire of the art burning in his eyes he was in his element. There was nothing in this world that was as appealing to her as Ranma was at this moment.

Ranma saw Akane sitting down out of the corner of his eye. She was completely absorbed in her own musings. He was surprised to see her home. Bitter thoughts crossed his own mind about how she was avoiding him and how she had kept the secret of her ki. The whole reason he was in the dojo trying to work himself to exhaustion was his memories of the day she healed him in the clinic. The feelings he felt. He was now sure that it had something to do with Akane's ki. That's why they were so powerful. The idea that she was putting her ki – the very essence of herself – into his body was so intimate. How could he not have noticed something like that? Upset as he was for not making the connection, it couldn't compare to how furious he was that she was doing that to other guys. _Mousse and that bottom feeder Shiro_, he shuddered. Consciously he turned his back on her and continued to unrelentingly work out his frustrations. How could she have kept something that important from him? His punches became harder, his kicks were like lasers, and his foot work became precise to the millimeter. His actions were fueled by his belief in Akane's duplicity and his lack of culpability in the situation.

He finished his sequence with his back to her, breathing hard. Her presence had exacerbated his feelings of annoyance and he was now simmering with resentment.

"What are you doing here?" he asked trying to slow his breathing.

"I needed to ask something of you."

"Does it have anything to do with more secrets you're keeping from me?"

"I haven't kept any secrets from you."

"Oh yeah? What was that little display at the school and with Mousse this morning?"

"You were spying on me?" Outraged she continued, "You're acting like I've never healed you! If I remember I healed you and then you stormed out of the room without so much as a thank you."

"I didn't even know that you had healed me!"

"Whose fault is that?"

He stubbornly remained silent.

"Just forget it," she paused, and muttered to herself, "I knew this wouldn't work." Huffily she rose to her feet and turned, sliding the dojo doors open.

"Fix it, and I might do what you ask," he said to her back.

Turning back around she faced him, "Fix what?"

Shrugging out of his gi he turned his back to her revealing dozens of tiny cuts from the shattered mirror earlier in the day, along with some angry red cat scratches. Akane brushed her hand over his back and noticed there was still some glass embedded in his skin.

"Oh Ranma!" her voice was chastising and concerned at the same time. "Did you really walk around like this all day? It must have been so uncomfortable." He shrugged. Seeing the sweat trickle down his back, she asked, "Does it sting?"

"A little."

Pulling back she said, "Go take a bath, then meet me in the tea room. I'll fix this."

"What did you need to ask me?" Ranma asked, pulling his gi back up.

Abstractedly waving her hand she replied, "Nothing that can't wait until later. I'll see you in 15 minutes."

ooOOoo

**Authors notes:** Super huge thanks to tuatura for walking me through Ranma's thoughts, SakuraJade for helping with the editing and O'Donoghue for some fantastic ideas for the next few chapters. As always, thanks for your reviews and pm's encouraging me to work harder on this story. Please feel free to PM anytime you need a Hippocrates fix and I'll see what I have to send you.

thwarth

Next up: Akane and Ranma explore the role of scent in seduction, Akane learns about femininity and how to keep your underwear safe, and Ranma has dinner with Ukyo. He, he, he, he. It's going to be funny.


	11. Chapter 11

Hippocrates 11

Ranma saw Akane waiting for him in the tea room. The floor was littered with little packages of gauze, tweezers and a few band-aids. She wasn't paying attention to him so he was able to stop in the doorway and observe her for a moment. _Her hair was longer_, he absently noticed as she was sorting her supplies with the same intensity she did everything. Taking a quick bath had done wonders for his mental state. He felt like he would be able to talk to her without exploding. He was still upset with her, oh, was he angry, but it wasn't on the surface; the anger more in control than in the dojo

Making enough noise so that she would hear him, he crossed the room, faced her, and knelt down on the same side of the low table.

Her hair was hiding her eyes which were directed downward, "Turn around." Her voice was quiet and thick and Ranma, who on his best day had a hard time reading his fiancée, found her impassive and professional. Once he turned around, she gave the command that she never would have been able to say to his face, "Take off your shirt." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she looked around and held her breath, waiting for her father to burst into the room. When he didn't, her breath came out in a relieved whoosh. The thought had crossed her mind that she should do this in her room so they could have privacy, but the idea of him in her room without his shirt on disquieted her, so she opted for the safer, more public albeit less private, tea room.

Looking out into the backyard at the Koi pond, Ranma tensely waited for Akane to break the silence. The serene scene outside was an odd juxtaposition for the way his insides were churning. As he thought about how angry he was he realized that he wasn't over Akane's new technique. He was a little surprised at his apathy over this fact. Usually he was dying to learn a new aspect of the art, but he felt less than enthusiastic about what Akane had been doing. What galled him the most was that she had a new technique and she'd kept it from him. She'd kept a secret and from him, and whether or not she meant to, she had deceived him. Worse was she'd blindsided him in front of that Shiro kid! It probably wasn't too sporting of him, but punching that sleeze in the face and preventing him from being alone with Akane on the way to Dr. Tofu's had been extremely satisfying and soothed him temporarily. It didn't erase the fact that she'd kept a secret and he was fuming about it.

Akane could feel the emotions coursing through Ranma; it was almost like an engine purring. Unsure of the reason, Akane held her peace, and fixed her eyes on Ranma's back as she tried to gain some type of equilibrium. The air between them became thick and oppressive with everything that wasn't being said. When she finally did break the silence it was with a voice that seemed much too small for the setting.

"This might be a little cold." When this was her only comment, Ranma was forced to clamp his jaw shut to keep from unleashing the torrent of jumbled thoughts going through his head. He couldn't stop himself from jumping a little when she put the cold antiseptic wipe on his skin.

Ranma involuntarily flinched as Akane worked the cold tweezers into the skin on his back. "Damn it, Akane! That stings!"

"Stop being such a baby. I have to get the glass out of your skin and clean the area before I can heal you. Do you want to be walking around with all this junk festering in your back?" She was getting such an odd vibe from him. It was obvious that he was livid, but this wasn't his usual verbose irritation. This anger was simmering beneath the surface and it was deeper and more intense than his usual exasperation with her. It made her very nervous and her nervousness was making her less than gentle. "How did this happen?" she quietly inquired.

"Shampoo broke a mirror I was standing in front of." He said, his eyes watering at the sting of her less than tender ministrations. Because his back was to her he couldn't see the dark look that crossed her features at the mention of the Amazon warrior. She said nothing and all he could hear was the brush of her clothing as she moved and an occasional plink as she plopped down bits of glass into a small dish on the table.

When she probed a sensitive spot on his back she finally heard him mutter something. She felt slightly relieved that he was at least muttering to her. It was a step up from the ominous, sullen silence that had fermented the atmosphere in the room. "What was that you said? I didn't quite hear you."

"I said I should have been prepared for you to stab me in the back."

That was the last straw for Akane. It was one thing to have him be upset because she did something stupid. Although she would never admit it, there had been plenty of times when she'd screwed things up and Ranma had to help her out of one mess or another. If he wanted to be mad about that kind of thing that was fine, but to be so upset over something that she was successful at doing, was immature, even for Ranma.

"Oh grow up, Ranma," she snapped at him. "I haven't done anything wrong. In these last months you have never once asked me what I have been doing with Dr. Tofu. You set Kuno on me like a terrier , in hopes of seeing my training when you should have just asked me. Instead you wrote him a letter and I ended up under gym equipment for hours and hours."

"I said sorry for that, already," he shot back defensively. This reminder of his past mistakes didn't humble him; it had the opposite effect. _How dare she use guilt to try to draw his attention away from the real issue of her perfidy._

Slamming the tweezers on the table she crawled around until she was facing him.

With righteous fury blazing in her eyes she poked him in the chest, "I don't understand why you are so mad. What have I done? Is it because I can do something in martial arts that you can't? Are you jealous?"

"Feh!" He batted her hand away, "Don't be ridiculous." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew it to be true. He was jealous— not of her skill, but of the fact that she had shared it with other people first.

"Then what's the problem?"

"There isn't one," he baldly lied. "Can we just finish?"

"Fine." She crawled back around him and resumed picking the glass out of his flesh. She worked for some time in silence occasionally sweeping her hand over his skin to feel for any stray shards. For his part, Ranma kept quiet and did his best not to twitch when she hit a nerve. Even in his anger and hurt, he liked having her close. Even if it meant that his back was going to resemble raw ground beef from all her prodding. He was pretty sure it would have been a lot less painful to walk around with glass in his back for weeks. She was mad at him, he could tell and it wasn't just because she was digging in his back like someone shucking an oyster. He always hated to have her upset with him. It wasn't long before Ranma felt the need to break the silence between them.

"I don't understand why all the guys in school are so hot to try this." His voice was strained from trying not to let her hear the pain in it.

"They are idiots, that's why," was her clipped reply.

After a pregnant pause, Ranma couldn't contain the thoughts that tumbled out of his mouth. "Did I interrupt something between you and that Shiro kid? He obviously wanted me to leave. Was it so you could tell him to take off his shirt too?"

"It's not like that Ranma," her voice made firm by his nettling. "I don't even know the guy. He just wants to be healed. When a person is healed using ki, they feel trace emotions from the person doing the healing. He feels my compassion because that is the emotion I channel, but nothing more. There is nothing more for him to feel. If he were to go and be healed by Dr. Tofu it would be a totally different experience."

Privately Ranma agreed, it would be different, the biggest difference being Dr. Tofu's lack of breasts.

Not satisfied with her answer but curious he asked, "What emotion does he use?"

"Harmony. When Dr. Tofu heals me I just kind of feel all Zen for a little while afterwards. It's nice. I think I have it all about cleaned up. Are you ready?"

He turned to look in her eyes, but she was futzing around with the materials. Was he ready? Did he want to do this again knowing that she had done this with others? He was really bothered by the idea, but at the same time he felt the need to find out what the other boys were feeling; to see if the emotions were just compassion or if there was something more.

"Yeah." He breathed out and prepared himself to concentrate on the technique so he could duplicate it in private.

Although he couldn't see her face he could feel the instant she started. He tried to pay attention, but the emotions of the moment overpowered him. He knew that today was going to impact his dreams for weeks to come and he wasn't sure that was a good thing. He was suddenly very aware of her. Her scent was different today, odd, but that didn't stop him from wanting to take a deep breath and fill himself with her smell. At the same time his lungs didn't seem to be working the way they normally did. It felt like someone had poured warm wax over his arm where her small hand was touching him. The warmth started to infuse into him. He felt it travel through his system like an injection of afternoon sunlight. Up and down each limb into his back and up to his head. He understood how Shiro appeared to be a puddle of goo yesterday. It was possible he would become a boneless mass from the effect of warmth that was swimming through his veins. Her fingers skimmed along his back and he shivered as the feeling traveled to his extremities and back to his core. Once it reached his chest it felt as though the warmth went inside of him, but not through his body. It seemed to settle right in his chest. Unlike before this feeling didn't offer warmth. It calmed his soul and something he didn't even know was empty filled up just a little bit. He felt an unconditional acceptance that had never been part of his life, and if he had the power to make this feeling last forever he would have sold part of his soul to make it so.

Akane did her best to put aside the hurt she was feeling and begin to heal Ranma. It was very distracting to have to place her hands on his well sculpted back. He was tan and smelled distinctly of Ranma. His hair was still damp from his bath and she squelched the impulse to undo his braid and run her fingers through it until it was dry. Taking a deep breath she concentrated on how much she loved this boy and her ki flowed out of her body. As it did so she began to see Ranma's memories: the first being him and his dad running down the street with an angry mob chasing them. Ranma was shouting at his father, "Why didn't you just tell me, pops. Then at least I would have been ready!" The image changed to a familiar setting and a red headed girl in the rain looked at a panda in disbelief. "A fiancée? No wonder you were so hot to get back to Japan. I noticed that you didn't mention it until we were already here. Thanks, but no thanks."

So distracting were Ranma's memories that she didn't notice that she was done healing him. It wasn't until she started to feel weak and shaky from her efforts that she looked down she saw no trace of the scratches, and she knew it was time to stop, but was reluctant to do so. Seeing his memories gave her a glimpse of why Ranma was so angry with her. It seemed somewhat dishonest to be invading his memories, but at the same time she finally understood why Ranma thought what she did was wrong. He felt deceived, it had nothing to do with what she was doing, but the fact that he didn't know about it. At least that is what she was guessing from the memories she saw. It was liberating to have things so sharply brought into focus. Lessening her concentration, she withdrew her hands.

Too soon he could feel the light leaving him and he had to bite his lip to keep from protesting. When she withdrew her hands he turned to look at her, and could see that she was sweating from the effort. She opened her eyes and Ranma looked into them deeply trying to understand what had just happened. Akane looked back at him, for once unembarrassed. She had such a look of peace in her eyes and she was radiating something…happiness perhaps. Slowly the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile and Ranma immediately felt it warm his soul the same way her touch just had. He didn't realize until this minute how much he had missed that smile these last months.

They just knelt there, looking at each other. Akane smiling, almost wisely and Ranma, who had never been good with words, trying to think of something glib or flippant to say to diffuse all the different emotions that were pounding through his body. His mind settled on the warmth he felt from her touch and her smile and soon it was wandering down paths where there were ideas of other things Akane could do to make him feel this way again. Finally Akane said, "Would you like me to teach you how to do it?"

His jaw dropped and he looked at her with wide eyes. "I…what? Are you sure?"

"Sure, Dr. Tofu and I have done it a thousand times, I am sure I could show you everything you need to know. In fact, knowing you I am sure you could you master it by yourself in no time."

It took about two seconds for Ranma to realize that Akane wasn't talking about what he was thinking about and he blushed furiously.

"What is that look for?" she asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled, "It's nothing."

"Let me show you how it works," she offered cheerily, her previous annoyance forgotten.

"I watched you close enough, it doesn't look too hard. I think I got it." Ranma said, not really paying any attention to the words coming out of his mouth, his mind was still on the feelings that were still swirling around inside of him.

"Ranma, just because you are Ranma Saotome doesn't mean you can go pumping your ki into someone without knowing how to make it work."

"Akane I have seen you do this three times now…come on it's me." He said, with a grin full of confidence. "It will be fine. Give me your arm," he commanded.

Still she hesitated, "I'm not so sure I want to be your guinea pig. I don't think you really know what you are doing."

"Now who's being the baby?" he taunted.

"Oh honestly," she relented, and offered her arm where there was a bruise at the elbow.

He observed the colored skin with interest, "Where did you get this?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really," he shrugged, with a cocky half smile, "Here goes."

He took her arm and placed his hands over the injury. He summoned the confidence he used to perform the Hiro Shoten Ha and squeezed it out of his body and pictured it flowing into hers. However; he must have channeled too much because almost instantly she was blasted out of his reach and flew across the room. Her back hit the wall with so much force that the silver tea set that rested on the shelf flew off onto the floor. Her head hit the wall with a sickening crack and it looked like smoke was coming out the ends of her hair. Her eyes were wide with surprise when she hit the wall and then her body started to slide down towards the floor and her pupils slid out of focus.

"Holy…" Ranma bit off the curse. He was across the room in one bound with his arms under Akane's helping her to remain standing.

His voice was filled with shocked horror, "Akane are you dead?"

When she didn't answer, he propped her body up against the wall freeing a hand to turn her head so he could look in her eyes. The lids were closed. "Oh my gosh! I've killed her!" he whispered to himself in a panic and gently, he started to repeatedly pat her cheek. "Come on Akane, open your eyes," he pleaded.

Her head lolled heavily to the side and she drunkenly swatted is hand away from her face. "Stop that. I'm fine. You're acting like I've never taken a hit before," her voice was slurred.

"Are you ok?" his eyes were looking into her heavily lidded ones

"I'm fine, I said," some of her telltale irritation was returning to her voice.

However, Ranma could tell that his one arm was holding all her body weight, so he didn't believe she was fine for a minute, but to prove a point, he released her and stepped back. Her knees gave out and she started to slide back down the wall. He immediately reached out and caught her under her armpits and slid her back into a standing position leaning his lower body into hers so that his hands were free to inspect her head for injuries.

Akane for her part felt a little dazed, but certainly nothing was seriously wrong with her. As her mind cleared she realized that she felt great. She felt like she could do anything and it would just work out. She noticed Ranma's proximity to her and wasn't alarmed that he was going to push her away and make some biting comment. She knew for a fact that he wanted to be close to her. She couldn't explain it, but she was positive he did, and as a result she couldn't hold back the blinding smile that lit her features.

Ranma for his part was stunned at the look on Akane's face. If it had been anyone else he would have said her smile was…welcoming, but this was Akane in his arms; the same woman who, not ten minutes ago had been hacking at his back like some villain in a 1970's horror movie. There was only one explanation for the sweet smile that was making his heart rate increase…her brains were addled from the blow.

Ranma reached his hands up and cupped both sides of her face and gently tilted her head to each side. "Does this hurt?" his voice was filled with concern.

"No." The heart stopping smile remained, and now her eyes had some of humor sparkling in their depths.

Pulling his gaze from her face he forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand, "No neck injury," he murmured.

"I told you I was fine," but her voice was directed at the floor because Ranma had tilted her head forward and was searchingly running his fingers through her hair. When he felt the large bump he gently pressed it with his fingers. "Does that hurt?"

"Ouch! Of course it hurts if you claw at it with your fingers."

Ignoring her surliness, he tilted her head back and peered into her eyes. Both pupils were the same size. That was a good sign. "Can you remember what happened an hour ago?"

"Of course I can." She rolled her eyes at him and pulled at his hands, " I told you I was fine. I'm not made of glass. Let me go."

"Not until you can tell me where you were an hour ago." He didn't relent with either his questions or to the tugging of her hands and eventually she dropped them to her sides, and gave in to his demands.

"I came to find you in the dojo because I had a question I wanted to ask you, but I ended up healing your back instead."

"That's right," tilting his head thoughtfully to the side he said, "I forgot about your question. You upheld your end of the bargain. What can I answer for you?"

Akane was all at once supremely aware of Rama's lower body pressing her into the wall and his fingers were still threaded through her hair his thumb absently stroking some of the silky strands. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. This was the perfect time to ask him. She was unaccountably confident that he wouldn't refuse to tell her, in fact; all of her doubts from before seemed so silly in her current mindset.

"Actually Ranma, I was wondering if you could tell me which perfume you liked better." She tilted her head back and exposed her long throat to his gaze.

Of all the things that could have come out of Akane's mouth he didn't expect this. He never thought to have her in his arms actually offering something he would never, ever admit to even thinking about. He peered at her suspiciously, "Are you sure you didn't hit your head too hard?" Oh man, he was going to get in so much trouble with Mr. Tendo for giving his daughter brain damage.

"I'm sure, just tell me which one. The one on the right or the one on the left?"

"Huh?"

"You have to smell them, dummy."

"Okay," he added quickly, "but only because you asked me to."

Wisely, Akane said nothing.

He lowered his head and placed his nose right above the pulse in her throat. He could hear her swallow unconsciously she moved her chin back down. His hands in her hair instinctively held her in place. Taking a deep breath he smelled something flowery and pretty, but unlike Akane's usual scent. Lifting his head he noted with male satisfaction that her eyes were closed and he could see the pulse in her neck beating faster than a minute ago. Gently dipping his head down on the other side of her neck he was rewarded with the clean citriusy smell that he associated with her. Using a deep breath as an excuse he decided to see how far Akane's confused mind would let him take this, so he nuzzled her neck with his nose. Instantly he noticed that the hands that were hanging limply by her sides came up to grip his upper arms. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. She didn't push him away so he decided to take a second pass and this time he moved his nose towards the sensitive skin near her ear. He couldn't miss her sharp intake of breath and the way her fingers tightened on his arm. They were all positive signs, in an instant he made up his mind to do what he had been thinking about for two long years.

Akane knew she was in trouble. Somewhere, while she was swept up in the moment, the ebullient feeling of confidence that she had started with began to fade, and now she was in Ranma's arms: a thrilling and terrifing prospect. It wasn't the first time she had been in his arms and felt thrilled and terrified, but usually they were being chased by people and dodging sharp objects. Now however, it was just the two of them and he was making her feel both things and she wasn't sure if she wanted to push him away or pull him closer. When she felt his breath on his neck she was pretty sure that he'd pricked at every nerve in her body, but when he brushed his nose across her skin her spine felt like it had received an electric jolt and she had to grip his arms to keep from falling down in surprise and pleasure. There was nothing she could do but keep her head back and hold on to his arms and have faith he knew what he was doing because at that moment rational thought seemed highly overrated.

Ranma lightly drug his cheek across Akane's as he pulled his head back so he could stare into her face. He wanted to make sure that she knew what she was doing before he attempted anything. He already had one unmemorable kiss hanging over his head, the last thing he needed was Akane forgetting the kiss this time.

"Akane," his voice was low and husky. "Open your eyes and look at me, Akane."

She opened them and his eyes were electric as he gazed at her. His eyes flickered to her lips and she knew that he was going to kiss her. Half of her stomach seemed to drop out of her legs in apprehension while the top half of her stomach seemed to be bubbling out of her throat in hope. She closed her eyes, prayed that she wouldn't screw this up, and waited

…and waited. When nothing happened she opened her eyes and saw that Ranma was studying the silver teapot that had fallen to the floor.

Ranma could see in a glance that Akane wasn't going to push him away and when she closed her eyes and tilted her chin up he knew that it was time for him to make his move, but he panicked and lost sight of the goal. He wasn't prepared for this, not with an Akane who hadn't said no, but hadn't said yes either. For a moment he took his eyes off her lips and they fell on the teapot which had an odd reflection in it. At first he didn't believe what he saw, but after studying it for a moment he was convinced that it was Kasumi with a notebook in her hands.

Dropping his arms he turned away from Akane and asked in disbelief, "Kasumi are you taking notes?"

"I…." The eldest Tendo stammered as she tried to find an excuse for being caught intruding on such an intimate moment. "Yes..No.. I mean…" hiding the notebook behind her back she opted to change the subject. Mentally asking for Ranma's forgiveness she said, "I just wanted to let you know that Ukyo called and is on her way over, she said something about you being late for dinner at her place tonight."

Ranma was still standing close enough to Akane to feel her stiffen behind him. This was not good. This was so not good. Why hadn't he just gone in for the kill when he had the chance? He turned to explain knowing that it was going to be futile. He saw the lips he was finally going to taste were in a thin hard line, and the eyes that were soft and compelling moments ago turned to stone and then refused to meet his.

Stepping around him and walking towards Kasumi Akane said, "Well, we certainly wouldn't want to keep him from dinner, would we?" her voice deceptively sweet.

"Akane," his voice dropped in exasperation, "It's not like that."

Haughtily she replied, "You don't owe me any explanations."

"Come on, Akane. I promised her at school. It's just dinner." He felt himself growing annoyed.

"It's fine, Ranma I don't care who you have dinner with." Turning to Kasumi, she said, "I have plans to have my costume fitted for the competition tonight, so don't plan on me for dinner either." With as much dignity as the bitterly disappointed girl could muster she turned on her heal and left the room, the force of her pride keeping her tears at bay.

ooOOoo

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Akane didn't know if she was cursing him or herself. In frustration she threw her pillow across the room and being robbed of the satisfaction of a crash she stomped over to the pillow picked it up and threw herself on the bed and let out a long loud scream into the pillow. Flopping over on her back she dashed away a few tears. If they were tears of anger, humiliation, or self pity she couldn't tell. As she lay there she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Her fingers tightened reflexively on her pillow. The last thing she wanted was to see his face, and throwing a pillow wasn't going to stop him if he wanted to come in. Suddenly she found herself wishing she was cuddling an anvil.

"It's me." Kasumi's gentle voice carried through the door.

Taking a deep breath and doing her best to paste an indifferent look on her face she sat up and said, "Come in."

Kasumi opened the door, shut it quietly behind her, and then lingered at the entry way of the room gazing in compassion at her little sister.

Akane did her best to brace her feelings because she knew that if Kasumi showed her the least amount of sympathy she would break down and cry. At the same time her heart was filled with love because her older sister recognized her suffering and was here, undoubtedly, to share some sisterly man bashing.

"Oh Akane," she gushed, "That was so much better than even the magazine said it would be. Did you see? At the end I wasn't sure who was trying to seduce who, but what does it matter? I took some great notes." Opening her notebook and tapping the top of it with her pencil she said, "He really seemed to like it when you grabbed his arms."

Akane was speechless with mortification, and briefly considered trying to smother herself with the pillow.

"It was the citrus scent wasn't it?" Kasumi smoothed her apron in thought. "Who knew oranges and lemons could drive a man to such passion. I was way wrong with the lavender. Now that I think about it, I think I read somewhere that lavender is supposed to help you sleep. Hmm…probably not the best choice for seduction. That was wonderful. Thank you so much." She grabbed her sister's hands and squeezed them in delight. "I knew I could count on you. Tomorrow we'll move on to phase two: making him jealous. Good job Akane. I need to go make sure that everything is ready for when Nabiki comes home." Humming a happy tune she floated out of Akane's room.

In disbelief Akane flopped back on the bed, but her head hit the wall on the exact spot of her previous bump. Eyes watering she sat up and decided that smashing something was the only way to make herself feel better, but glancing at the clock, she noticed the time and groaned, "Oh crap. I'm late."

ooOOoo

"Rina I am so sorry I am late." Akane said slipping off her shoes as she greeted the captain of the dance team.

"It's ok. Come into the my room I have your costume."

Akane followed her excitedly, she secretly loved to dress up and look feminine. If there was anything she needed today it was the way a pretty dress would make her feel, so with high hopes she looked eagerly in the room. There on a low futon was a pile of feathers and some sparkles.

Smiling Rina held it up. "Here it is. I ordered it just for you. It's just like what they wear at Carnival."

Akane wasn't smiling. On closer inspection it just looked like colorful feathers and very skimpy, strategic sparkles. In vain she lifted up some of the feathers as if to search for the part of the costume that would cover her, but there was nothing to be found. She looked around the room for something else to indicate that this was a horrible mistake, but there was nothing.

After a moment she said, "I'm not wearing that."

"Oh come on. It'll be fun," prodded Rina

"No."

"Akane you've got to get into the spirit of the dance. It will be good for you, you know, make you feel comfortable in your skin."

"No way." Looking at what appeared to be two sparkly pieces of floss entwined around a dead parrot she deadpanned, "I don't see how that could possibly help me feel comfortable at all. I won't wear it."

"It will liberate you, and free up your dancing. It is still too stiff during the number that you dance with Hiroshi." Rina stroked the colorful feathers

"I don't want to be liberated." Akane knew without a shadow of a doubt that this costume would be an endless source of misery for her. Nabiki would go on forever about it, Kasumi would disapprove, Hiroshi would get the wrong idea for sure and Ranma…he was the last thing she wanted to think about. Firmly Akane said, " I would rather be stiff and lose the competition then be caught dead in this."

"Fine, Akane. I didn't think you would wear it, but I thought I might try." Rina sighed and tossed the outfit back down on the futon, "but will you at least take it home and try it on in private, just to make sure."

"I don't need to make sure. If you really want me to take it home I will, but you are running a huge risk that Happosai will snatch this and you will never see it again."

"It's worth it to me if you decide to play along," Rina wheedled. "Come on the other girls thought it was beautiful."

"There is no way," her tone was implacable.

"Ok, fine. We still need to get you to loosen up on the floor. Your problem is that you are treating your dance like a battle instead of an enticement. You are supposed to be coming across as a siren, but instead you give the impression of a violent nun on steroids."

Akane was offended. Stuffily she replied, "If it is that bad, why don't you just have someone else do the number?"

"We've been over this, you know that in order for us to meet the qualifying criteria for the competition we need you to do at least two dance numbers. Your other number is so beautiful. You just need to let go a little and have some fun with this dance."

"I know the steps perfectly."

"I know you do, Akane. It's not about the steps it's about you being comfortable enough to have some fun with this dance." Rina slumped on the ground her mind trying to find a solution. They sat there in silence until Akane, who was fingering the feathers, broke it by saying. "I can't believe that you thought I would wear this. It is a little more than a sparkly bra and panties with some feathers sewn on."

Rina jumped to her feet. "That's it Akane, you are a genius. Come on let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"To the mall, we're going to get you some new lingerie."

"Why?"

"It's a proven fact, that if you feel pretty in what you are wearing under your clothes you feel more confident."

"Oh, where did you hear that?" Akane asked, knowing that kind of information could only come from one place.

"I read it in some beauty magazine somewhere, at the hair dresser I think."

"Just what I need; more beauty magazine advice," she mockingly said to herself. "So I have confidence issues, is that the problem?"

"No, not really," Rina mused, "I just thought we could get something feminine and beautiful and it might help you feel that way while dancing." At Akane's sardonic look, she said, "It's worth a try, if it doesn't work I'm going to make you wear the costume."

With a huge sigh Akane responded, "As long as it keeps me out of that costume I'm willing to try."

Author's notes: Well for those of who reviewed for the last chapter it is obvious that the preview I gave you is not in this chapter, sorry. I started that scene for Ranma and Akane and it just kind of took a life of its own. A huge thanks to tuatara and Myiopyo and Dev Li who helped me with the editing and making this story the best it could be. As always if you leave a review I will respond with a preview of the next chapter. Speaking of the next chapter we hopefully will cover: Lingerie shopping, dinner with Ukyo, and Akane meeting Dr Tofu's doctor friends, and Ranma's conversation with Hiroshi. Let's hope I can squeeze it all in. Thanks so much for your reviews and patience. I better get to work!


	12. Chapter 12

Hippocrates 12

As soon as Akane left the room Ranma darted outside on his way to Ukyo's. The— last thing he needed was Ukyo showing up at the house and talking to Akane. Walking through the warm colors of the sunset, he thought about his day. He —had her in his arms and he blew it! He was so close. What was his problem? Perhaps his curse was messing with his manliness more then he thought? Shaking his head, he acknowledged the real reason; he knew why he didn't kiss her. When he looked in her eyes he could see she wasn't going to say no, but he wasn't sure that she _wanted _him to kiss her. It could have just been because he'd knocked her senseless, and not saying no was very different from saying yes.

Shoving his hands deep in his pockets he kicked at some pebbles on the side of the road and stared morosely as they hit against the pavement. Things were quickly spiraling out of control. Maybe it was best that he didn't kiss her. Akane would have been even more furious if he'd kissed her and then left for dinner. Of course, if he had kissed her, he would have been much, much less interested in dinner with Ukyo. That idea stopped him short. Why was he going to dinner with Ukyo? Why didn't he just go all caveman on Akane and scoop her up in his arms and take her somewhere so he could kiss her brains out? He loved Akane. He knew this, but he was going to have dinner with another girl. Slowly he started walking again. What did Ukyo have that Akane didn't? She could cook, and truthfully that was a huge point in her favor. Other than her cooking, his feelings towards her could only be described as tepid. She gave him free food and showered him with compliments, and he let her claim to be his fiancée. It was a mutually satisfying relationship wasn't it? Why did the idea spending the evening with her suddenly seem so unappealing?

His slow footsteps eventually lead him to the familiar front of Ukyo's shop. Part of him hoped she was already gone so he could avoid her, and the other half feared what would happen if she came face to face with Akane. A small smirk played about his lips. Today Akane had acted normal, with the exception of being willing and pliant in his arms, he mentally amended. Her reaction to his dinner plans was just like old times and it was encouraging. If only she had hit him, then he would feel like things were back in his control and not such a jumble. Once things had settled down, and Akane was in full possession of her faculties, he was going to try to kiss her again. It wouldn't be hard to manipulate her into the same scenario, and if he didn't pump as much ki into her this time she wouldn't hit her head…or maybe they could do it in the dojo where there was more space. A grin snuck its way onto his features at the thought—.

He caught his reflection in the window and the grin faded into a frown. Did he really look that sappy when he thought about Akane? How unmanly. Wiping his face clean of emotion, he saw Ukyo in the back of the shop twirling in a circle with one of her giant spatulas cradled gently in her grasp. It was an odd sight. It seemed almost as if she was dancing a western style waltz with it. Looking closer he could see that there was a face drawn on the spatula and a black pigtail attached to the other side. He watched with increading alarm as she spun the spatula around, dipped it, and placed a soft kiss on the sharpie drawn lips.

That was becoming too weird, even for him and he started to back away silently when Ukyo caught sight of the movement. Instantly she straightened, smoothed her hands over the lovely navy gown she was wearing and took two steps towards the front windows. When she saw Ranma her eyes widened in recognition and then she blushed deeply. Running for the door she called out, "Get in here you jackass, and don't spy through windows. It's creepy."

ooOOoo

"I just want you to know that I am a two cheeks covered kind of girl," Akane said, following Rina's brisk pace. The mall was only a short train ride from Rina's house and Akane begin to feel the excitement of doing something she hadn't had time to do in months.

Rina shrugged, "I don't care what you wear as long as you feel pretty and it improves your dancing I could care less. You could go commando and it wouldn't matter to me."

Akane spluttered, "I wouldn't… that's…that's just gross."

Rina quirked and eyebrow at her, "You'd be surprised."

"Eeeewww. I don't even want to know," and she removed her hand from the handrail of the escalator they were riding, and tried to discreetly wipe it on her skirt.

Arriving on the upper floor of the mall, Rina lead Akane into a popular woman's store, and were immediately engulfed in heavily perfumed air. Akane breathed it in instantly feeling lovely and feminine. She felt a little thrill as she walked among all the beautiful fabrics and textures. Her underthings were as boring as they could be. She wasn't opposed to lovely underwear, but it was a matter of practicality and economy. It made no sense to have beautiful and expensive bras and panties that were only going to be stolen by a perverted midget of a man. She reached her hands out and glided them softly over the items on hangers, luxuriating in the satin, silky feel of the lingerie.

"Do you see anything you like?" Rina inquired her eyes roving over a rack filled with clearance items.

"Sure there are a lot of things here I think are pretty, but I don't want to spend money on any of them," Akane wistfully responded.

"Why not?" Rina stopped her shuffling of items and looked at Akane with genuine puzzlement.

"Because I live with Happosai and he can spot a matching bra and panty under your clothes from 100 paces away and then have it in his hands in under three seconds. It's a waste of money for something I might only wear once."

"Ah Happosai, he is a problem isn't he. I've never thought about what a pain it must be to live with him. Does he go through your drawers?"

"He respects my room most of the time, but if something gets left in the laundry it's free game. Oddly enough, Nabiki and Kasumi have Happosai immunity for some reason."

"I wonder why that is?" Rina lifted up a bra and held it up to her chest. Her head shot up and her eyes lit up as she stumbled upon an idea, "Do you think he does it to irritate Ranma? I imagine that Ranma must get pretty mad to find him pawing his fiancee's unmentionables."

Akane let out an unladylike snort. "Don't kid yourself. Ranma couldn't care less. The only thing I know for sure about Ranma is that he has a thing against blue underwear."

"Really? How do you know something like that?" Rina's eyebrows shot up, and the corners of her mouth quirked up in surprise and amusement.

The last thing Akane wanted to do was say that Ranma had looked up her skirt…twice. Blushing she said, "It came up in conversation a couple of times. What do you think of these?" Akane held up a lovely set of lacy boy shorts with a scalloped edging around the leg and waist and a matching bra.

"I think they're really pretty. Womanly, but will still practical. Does Happosai dislike boy shorts?"

"If it's lacy, he's not picky, trust me." Akane reluctantly replaced the underwear.

"So buy them." Rina picked up the abandoned set hung the hanger on her forearm.

"I don't want to waste the money."

"There has to be something you can do to keep him from taking your stuff. Can't you hide it?"

Fingering a lilac satin set, Akane scowled, "He'd just ferret it out. He's so sneaky." She placed the set back on the rack.

"Does he take everyone's underwear?" Rina picked up the set Akane had discarded.

"No. Once there was a giant pair of grandma panties we couldn't get him to steal. Ranma ended up with them. He's got them stashed somewhere and when he wants to be left alone he hangs them up on his door. You know, kind of like a cross keeps away vampires. It seems to work." Akane looked up from the rack she was rifling through and saw that Rina had picked up every set that she had looked at and relinquished.

Grabbing Akane by the arm she directed her towards the fitting rooms. "Try these on, and we'll think of a solution to your problem."

Akane meekly obeyed and she and Rina finished their discussion over the curtain.

"What if you wrapped your new underwear in some granny panties, do you think Happosai would take them?" Rina asked, absently checking herself out in the mirror as she waited for Akane.

The first set Akane chose to try on was the lacy boy shorts. Putting them on she turned this way and that in the mirror. In her mind her body was never as bad as Ranma said. Now stripped down to her skivvies she tried to see what made her so flawed. Her body was firm from all her training, but she was still very obviously a woman. It's true that her breasts weren't as big as Ranma's when he was a girl and her waist wasn't as small either. Her hips were wider than his, but she never had any problems fitting into the size she wanted. After Ranma had told her that he didn't want to see her breasts Akane had been forced to accept the fact that she didn't have the kind of body that interested him. It was perhaps the beginning of her realization that he was never going to feel the same way about her as she did about him. What was wrong with him? Didn't all seventeen year old boys want to see breasts? He'd seen Shampoo's a bunch of time and Akane never heard him make a fuss about it the way he did about hers.

Shaking the morose thoughts from her head she double checked her appearance. The bra gave her a modest décolleté, one that she wouldn't be embarrassed to wear with some of her scooped neck shirts. It was comfortable and she swung her arms around while wearing it; making sure she could still fight in it if she needed to. The boy shorts hugged her lower body and the edging flattered her lean legs and flat tummy. She looked good. Smiling Akane twisted herself to look at her backside. Even that looked good in this underwear. She wasn't hideous, and just because she didn't have the kind of figure to attract Ranma didn't mean that she wouldn't eventually attract someone who would appreciate how she was built. The thought brought a smile to her face. Akane was so busy admiring herself in the mirror that she almost missed Rina's question.

"Hmmmm?" Akane murmured through the curtain as she tried on a different set.

"I said, do you think you could hide your nice underwear in granny panties?" Rina said a little louder, her attention now on the curtain.

There was a pause and then Akane stuck her head out of the curtain exposing her neck and a bare shoulder, "You know, that might work."

"Great," Rina chirped, "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Akane ducked her head back in the dressing room.

"To find the ugliest and biggest pair of granny panties I can." Rina's amusement for the task was evident in her voice.

"Rina wait!" Akane called reaching out a naked arm with the lacy set on a hanger, "Will you find a sales lady and tell her I want one of these in white, black, red, yellow and every shade of blue they have."

ooOOoo

There was no way to avoid Ukyo, not when she was staring at him with her hands on her hips with high color gracing her cheeks. Embarrassed at being caught watching through windows, Ranma kept his head down and stalked into the restaurant. She silently shut the door after him. He didn't want to be here. Certainly not after messing up his chance to plant one on Akane, he wanted to be somewhere quiet where he could plan a new strategy. Additionally, seeing Ukyo dancing with a spatula version of himself made him shudder with fear and a small dose of panic. He'd been so busy thinking about kissing Akane he'd forgotten that there were other kisses he needed to avoid. There was no question in his mind that proving herself the best kisser was exactly what Ukyo had in mind tonight. She was wearing a dress, Ranma swallowed in dread, looking away from her, and his eyes landed on a table in front of her griddle. It was set up with a white tablecloth, nice tableware and it looked like a bucket of champagne on ice was off to the side. The sight of it only made his heart hammer in his chest and his palms started to sweat in alarm. He would be the first to admit that he didn't always understand women, but it was obvious, even to him, that Ukyo had created some kind of love den, and in his preoccupation with Akane, he'd walked right into it. Stupid Akane. He had to get out of here and then he needed to kill Ryoga…twice.

"Why don't you come and sit down?" Ukyo gracefully gestured at the table. He sat in silence and he tried not to look at her lips. They were shinier then usual and they held his attention the way the eyes of cobra hypnotize a mouse. He watched as she reached up and lit two long tapered candles in the center of the table. "I made something special for you tonight," her voice was pitched lower and Ranma could only nod, his eyes falling on the door to the backroom. If only he could think of an excuse to get back there, he could be out in the alley and on his way in no time flat.

Ukyo called Konastu and he quickly brought out an array of dishes and set them on the table; then just as quietly, he retreated back to the storeroom Ranma had been eyeing with longing. The smells of good food made his mouth water, his stomach rumble, and his resolve weaken. There really was no reason to waste perfectly good food. Picking up his chopsticks he dug in. Her cooking was nirvana and his mind tuned out anything that wasn't involved in the process of getting food into his stomach.

Ukyo watched Ranma dig in with gusto and smiled that he was so easy to please. All was going according to her plan. Soon Ranma would see what kind of a woman she really was. When his mouth was filled with a huge bite she began the speech she had rehearsed all afternoon.

"I know that when we were younger you thought I was a guy, but it's been months since we cleared up that misconception and well…" she paused, blushing slightly, "I'm a woman now, and you are a man…" Her voiced faded off and she looked at Ranma who didn't appear to be paying attention at all. He seemed completely absorbed by the food. Sighing she tried again, " I know that you think I'm cute, you've said as much, but I was hoping by now you would have noticed that there is a certain spark between us. A spark that could," again she paused, screwing up her courage against the embarrassment she always felt when expressing her tender feelings. "Could turn into something beautiful if we just explore it," smiling shyly she raised her eyes to Ranma who was looking at her with a look of complete bewilderment.

"What are you talking about, Ukyo?" he questioned around a mouthful of food.

Her maidenly shyness was pushed out of her system by her annoyance. "Ran-chan, we've been engaged for a long time now, and Ranma I'm ready to move things to the next level."

He looked at her blankly.

"I'm ready to start acting like most engaged couples," she prodded, passing him a plate of noodles.

A cricket chirped in the background, followed by the sound of an owl.

Ukyo took his continued silence for assent to her observations and smiled brightly she dished up some noodles on his plate. "That was easier than I thought it was going to be. Thank heavens for male teenage hormones. It's a good thing I made up my futon for two tonight."

A yakisaba noodle went down Ranma's airpipe.

"Ranma-honey, are you ok?" Ukyo got up and walked around the table and patted him on the back; when that did nothing to dispel the violent coughing she wacked him a harder. It was enough to dislodge the noodle and it caused his arms to flail out in front of him knocking the candles on the table over and one fell to the floor where it rolled under the table, and Ranma quickly straightened the other one, but before he could find and fix the other one he felt Ukyo's hot breath in his ear.

"Ran-chan." Ukyo murmured in his ear, her hand now rubbing his back up and down in a languid, stroking motion.

"I'm ok." He awkwardly leaned away, swatted at her hands on his back, and wiped his watering eyes.

Ukyo sat down and smiled at him. Ranma turned his attention back to his plate and tried to find the courage to say what he needed to say to her. Knowing she was going to be disappointed and hurt he attempted to screw up his courage to confront her. He also knew that she could be stubborn and willfully blind where he was concerned and so he wanted to let her down as easy as possible, and he needed to do it with no misunderstanding. The time had come. He loved Akane, he had almost kissed her today and he was definitely planning on actually doing it sometime in the near future. It was time to cut Ukyo lose and let her know that she wasn't anything more to him than just a friend. Ignoring the knot in his stomach, Ranma tried to find the words. Ukyo, seeing that Ranma was trying to say something, reached across the table and took both of her hands in his. Ranma didn't pull away hoping to help ease the blow. Expelling a deep breath he looked into her eyes and said, "Ukyo." He did his best to force the words out of his throat, but she was looking at him with a look of eager anticipation and her hands were clasping his so tightly. He tried again, "Ukyo, I …do you smell smoke?"

ooOOoo

Akane felt better then she had in weeks. Rina had been right shopping had done a world of good for her mentality. Even though— outwardly she had a hard time showing it, on the inside Akane had a girly streak a mile wide. Humming a little tune she walked down the street swinging her shopping bags to the tune of her song. She had no idea how Rina had done it, but she had come back to the dressing room with three of the ugliest, biggest pairs of panties Akane had ever seen. One was yellow with enough metallic brown lace on for any three brides maids dresses, another was the size of Sarushima island, and the best one could have fit three of her and was covered with florescent "just say no to drugs" slogans. They had laughed so hard at Rina's finds that Akane couldn't help but feel happy walking back to her house from the train station. For the first time since she was with Ranma earlier that day her mind turned to Kasumi and Tofu. His doctor friends were coming tomorrow, she thought, and she better go and talk him out of meeting with them.

This whole idea about leaving Kasumi was absurd and she wasn't going to let him quit. She still needed training; and, if anything Kasumi needed the chance to try to seduce the man. It might just shock some sense back into him. She smiled at the thought. Her footsteps let her to a fork in the road both of which would take her to Tofu's, but one would pass by Ukyo's shop. She hesitated knowing that Ranma was there having dinner. _She should just go by make sure that he hadn't been suckered into something stupid. _Her feet turned down the road that would take her past her erstwhile fiancée, but she stopped only a few steps down that path.

She'd told him earlier that she didn't care what he did and yet here she was going to interfere. Same as always she always did. Did she really need to confront Ranma and Ukyo only to have insults thrown in her direction? He'd made it clear enough that she was often in the way… but he was such a pushover. She dithered in the street chewing her bottom lip, indecisive; her mind warring with her pride. Finally she decided her priority was Dr. Tofu and Kasumi. Backtracking, before she could change her mind, she walked quickly to the peace and distraction that the clinic afforded her.

ooOOoo

Ranma instantly let go of Ukyo's hands and stood up sniffing the air in the shop. Ukyo also stood up and looked around. They walked around the counter to her grill and crouching down they inspected it inside and out.

"That's so weird," Ranma said standing up and facing Ukyo and the back of the restaurant. "I really smell smoke."

"My table!" Ukyo shrieked. Looking over his shoulder and Ranma spun around and saw their elegant dinner going up in flames. In one bound he was over the counter and ripping the table cloth off the table in an attempt to smother the flames.

"Let me get it!" Ukyo shouted from behind him. With lightening fast hands she grabbed the champagne bucket and hurled its slushy contents in the direction of the flaming tablecloth and Ranma. In her panic Ukyo failed to remove the champagne bottle from the bucket and it cracked Ranma between the eyes and she collapsed in a soaking, smoldering mess.

Ukyo stood stunned at the turn of her evening. At her feet was a partially charred table and an unconscious readhead. It took her a minute, but soon her brain caught up with her instincts and she finally squatted down to check on Ranma. "Ranma, are you ok?" Ukyo lightly slapped her cheeks. When Ranma failed to respond Ukyo punched her. When that didn't wake her Ukyo gave up and sat in a puddle next to her prostrate form. Pulling the chapstick out of her bra she threw it across the room, "Stupid chapstick." This was so not how she planned on ending the evening.

ooOOoo

"Dr. Tofu! Are you in here?" Akane called sliding the doors open at the clinic. She left her shopping bags and the bag that had her dance costume just inside the door and removed her shoes. When no one answered she wandered further into the clinic. She found him at a low table studying an empty tea cup, a bitter smile twisting at his lips.

All her anger and hurt over Ranma was pushed to the back of her mind at the sight of her despondent friend. "Are you all right?" she questioned softly and sank down beside him.

He shrugged indifferently. "I've been worse."

"Are you still planning on going?" Akane got up and turned on the overhead lights, dispelling some of the dreary atmosphere of the room.

"Yes, they've already made plans for me to be on the mission and have, accordingly, reduced their supplies by half. If I don't go their mission will be crippled. I can't leave them in a rut now; they are planning on leaving in three days."

"Three days! But…but they are just coming to meet me tomorrow. Are they not really interested in meeting me? Three days? We were still working on a plan with Kasumi." Akane voiced the jumble that was her thoughts.

"No they are very interested in meeting you, I think when you hear their terms you will be more than happy to be ready to go in three days. I also think you know that nothing will work with respect to Kasumi."

"You could just talk to her. Tell her what is wrong."

Almost viciously Tofu replied, "I can't talk to her that is the problem."

"Write her a letter then." Akane was pleading.

"Then what? We can just be a jolly pair of pen pals? It's no use." They both fell into a contemplative silence and after a moment Akane tried one more time.

"You don't have to leave her, you know."

"I do." His voice was full pain. "I can't be around her, so we can't be together," he paused, "Eventually she'll fall in love with someone and I really don't have any desire to be around when that happens." He didn't look up, just forlornly sloshed the dregs of his tea around in his cup. Akane's throat tightened at Dr. Tofu's words. The same was true of Ranma. She really had no desire to see things pan out between him and Ukyo or even worse, Shampoo. Could she pretend to be happy about him moving on? No, it wasn't going to be possible for her to act like things were ok. She knew exactly what Dr. Tofu meant. She had no desire to be around to watch that either. The stupid thing was, unlike her and Ranma, Tofu wouldn't have to watch Kasumi fall for someone else because she was already in love with him.

There was no way she was going to let him leave. If he broke Kasumi's heart she would follow him on his little mercy mission and then, for him, there would be no mercy. She was going to keep him here no matter what.

"Your colleagues are coming tomorrow right?" She said forcefully. "Could you tell me more about where they are planning on going and what they are planning on doing?"

"Really? You want to know more? It'd be nice to have you around." Dr. Tofu smiled at her, "We could keep training."

"I don't think so." Akane said.

"What? Why?"

"It will be impossible for you to train me when I leave with these doctors and you stay home to marry my sister."

Exasperated, Tofu said, warningly, "Akane."

"They don't need both of us and since you have committed at least one of us I should be the one to go." She smiled innocently at him, "I still have three days and I am sure something will come to me. What do I need to do to impress them?"

ooOOoo

When Akane arrived home Nabiki was watching some kind of soap opera on the TV and idly thumbing through a magazine. Offering her a brief greeting, Akane took her bags up to her room and started to sort through her closet. Everything she owned screamed "girl in high school." Even her pajamas had little kitty's on them. There wasn't anything she could see that was going to make those doctors think she was competent and worth the risk of taking along. The skirts she pulled out were either too short or too frilly. She needed something that communicated seriousness. Flopping on the bed she looked at her new bags of stuff. Going over to the bags she carefully took out the new lingerie and then wrapped it up in the granny panties and tucked them under some of her practical underpants in her drawer. She folded up the shopping bags, and as she was reaching for the bag that had the feathers in it, she heard a familiar scratching at her door.

Opening the door a little she looked down and sure enough it was her pet pig with his customary yellow bandana tied around his neck.

"P-chan!" She happily exclaimed scooping him up and giving him a hug. "I've missed you boy." She said affectionately rubbing her nose next to his.

Walking over to the bed she sat down and cradled him in her lap. "I don't have anything to wear tomorrow, she confided to him. "I'm supposed to be impressing a bunch of doctors I've never met, and everything I own looks…I don't know…Like a little girl's. What am I going to do? I don't have time to go shopping."

P-chan saw the last shopping bag and hopped off her lap and nudged it with his nose.

"Aren't you clever." Akane crooned and crossed the room. "I definitely can't wear that tomorrow. It's supposed to be my costume for the dance competition." She lifted it out of the bag and held it up against herself. "I don't know what Rina was thinking. Actually I do, she told me that she let Hiroshi help pick out the costume. It explains so very much." She walked over to the mirror. The whole outfit was so ridiculous, but at the same time Akane was tempted to try it on just to see what she would look like. It wasn't as if anyone would see her in it. Turning to her pet pig she smiled and said, "What do you think? Do you want to see me in this costume?"

P-chan began to squeal loudly and Akane interpreted this as pleasure at her suggestions so she placed him on the floor and examined the costume in earnest. "How? There are so many strings. I don't think that would possibly cover me completely." She murmured to herself. P-chan watched her in gross fascination blushing at her words. "Ah, I see how it works." And before P-chan could turn his back she had shucked off her skirt and was standing with her shirt barely covering her backside. Using all his willpower, P-chan turned away and faced the wall and did his best not to catalogue every piece of clothing he could hear hit the floor.

He heard Akane fumbling around and at one point is sounded like she tripped and fell into the desk, but he was too afraid to turn around and look and so he steadfastly watched the wall and recited his multiplication tables.

Finally he heard Akane say, "Well what do you think P-chan?" and he turned around. It only took one and instantly he could feel the blood gush from his nose and involuntarily his eyes rolled back in his head.

ooOOoo

Ranma was not in a good mood. His head hurt like the devil and extracting himself out of the clutches of Ukyo had been harder then he thought. By the end of the evening he was actually grateful for his curse because it had kept Ukyo from having her wicked way with him. She was undeniably furious with him. Not only had he refused to cooperate with her plans to get to second base and beyond, but he also trashed her restaurant jumping from table to wall to counter in an effort to dodge the hot water she kept trying to splash him with. When left her, she was cursing him and mopping up water. Her hair was coming down and she had mascara running down her stained, smoke-smelling gown.

He schlepped himself home wondering if it was really worth it to have her as a friend. He still wasn't sure if he had forgiven her for her involvement in the attack at the wedding. If there was a way to keep her friendship and have Akane he would, but he didn't think Ukyo would go for that. She was still deeply vengeful about her first abandonment that if he rejected her now she might see it as a second desertion, and then there would be problems for not only him, but Akane as well. Ukyo was an awful lot of trouble, and not in a good way. Not like Akane. Who was also a lot of trouble, but for reasons he chose not to delve too deeply into, he didn't mind it so much.

He drug himself up the stairs in anticipation of grabbing a change of clothes so he could bathe and go to bed; when he heard Akane's cry, and in an instant he was opening the door with the duck on it all his senses alert for danger.

The first thing he noticed was that Akane wasn't wearing any clothes that he could tell. He stopped short just inside the doorway and out of self-preservation he dropped his eyes to the floor. Seeing her bare feet and painted toes he couldn't stop himself from letting his eyes roam upward of their own volition. Her legs were bare and he noticed how smooth they were. He became uncomfortable as his eyes continued to move upward and there were no clothes to stop his greedy gaze. Up past her knees and firm thighs it was and compulsion laced with trepidation that kept his eyes moving upward, fearful and hopeful of what he might find. Soon he saw the first indication that she might have any clothes on at all in the form of one single strand of crystal and silver beads that crossed her hip and drew his eyes to the tiniest and shiniest swimsuit bottom he had ever seen. Jerking his eyes upward to safer territory, he saw the same crystal and silver beads draped around her flat stomach and ribs. The effect was dazzling and called his attention to what was either above or below the beads. He was terrified of what he was going to see above, but it didn't stop him for looking. His jaw dropped and he had the fleeting thought, there was no logistical way for her top to stay on. It would only take one small move and she would completely expose herself to the world. It tied behind her neck and around her back, he could see the strings, but that didn't mean anything. They were thin little things and looked like they could give way at any second.

His inspection of her only took seconds, but it rendered him incapable of any kind of coherent thought and so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "What in the seventh level of hell are you wearing!"

"Oh Ranma." Akane eyes were full of concern as she held out P-chan up in her hands. The pig's head lolled to the side. "I don't know what happened. I turned around to pick him up and all of a sudden all this blood came out of his nose and he lost consciousness. I think he might really be sick."

It was the first time Ranma noticed the pig and a muscle in his jaw twitched at the idea of him in here with Akane dressed the way she was. Sarcastically he replied, "Oh, he's sick alright."

"Ranma! Stop bulling him for one second. I really think something is wrong."

"It's nothing I am sure a cold shower couldn't fix. Give him to me and I'll take care of him." Ranma held out his hand.

Akane turned her back on him and he was hit with a face full of feathers. Feathers! He hadn't even noticed them before. Viciously swatting them away from his face he looked to see how they were attached and to his chagrin and the back of the outfit was as skimpy as the front. His mouth was so dry that swallowing seemed impossible. It briefly crossed his mind that he had actually swallowed a feather. He saw Akane gently shaking P-chan in her arms and was worried that any sudden movement on her part would cause her to bust out of her top. His eyes widened when he realized Ryoga was right there on eye level.

"Don't move around in that thing!" A little panicked he said, "Just give him to me, over your shoulder , and I will bathe him. I was on my way down when I heard you in here."

Turning back around with P-chan in her arms nestled against what Ranma supposed was the softest part of her body, she looked surprised. "You heard me and came in to check on me?"

Ranma didn't process her words as P-chan appeared to be regaining consciousness and Ranma couldn't seem to lift his eyes to Akane's face. What he wanted to do was rip the little pig out her arms, but he was worried any jerky motions would upset the delicate forces of nature that were holding her top on. P-chan made some snorting noised and nestled himself deeper between Akane's breasts and Ranma with inhuman speed plucked him out of her grasp and turned his back on Akane in an effort to preserve her modestly and his sanity.

Strained he said, "What are you wearing?" Quickly he moved the bandana from P-chan's neck to gag him to prevent him from squealing when he started to painfully torture him for being in Akane's room.

"This is just the costume Rina let Hiroshi pick for our dance." She snorted at the laughable thought of her actually appearing in public like this.

Ranma's hands stilled, "You can't be serious."

"I am. It's ridiculous letting Hiroshi dress a woman. He has not taste and no class."

Turning back to face her, holding a gagged P-chan behind his back in a firm grip, he fixed his gaze on her face. "I meant you can't be serious about wearing—that—getup in front of other people."

Akane looked at him in astonishment. He obviously didn't thing she could carry it off. Well that was it! She'd had it with him! First the healing, then the kiss that didn't happen, followed by dinner with Ukyo, it was too much. Too angry to disabuse him of the idea of her actually competing in the costume , she cocked an eyebrow at him and said, "It's a competition and I want to win. Now if you would get out, I need to get to bed." She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. The gesture made the beads sway tantalizingly over her tummy and Ranma was rooted to the spot. When he didn't move for a fill minute, Akane, annoyed, said, "If you're not going to help P-chan give him back to me."

Her statement galvanized him into action; because there was no way in hell he was giving that pet pig another chance to ogle her in that outfit. Ranma spun on his heel and strode out of the room without a word.

Climbing down the stairs he couldn't believe that Akane would really wear something like that. She was, by nature a modest girl, but at the same time she was fiercely competitive. If she really wanted to win she just might wear something like that. Truth be told, he just wasn't sure. Stripping out of his clothes he came to the conclusion that the dance with Hiroshi had to be stopped. To do that he needed someone who hadn't promised not to interfere. Picking up the black piglet with one hand he plunged him under the warm water of the furo, glaring at the lost boy who emerged coughing.

"Okay bacon breath, you've got thirty seconds to explain what you were doing in Akane's room, and everything she said about that competition, before I send your perverted ass to piggy heaven...twice."

* * *

Author's notes: Phew! Only two more chapters and all this tension we've been building up will be released. I am almost halfway through my plotted scenes. Thanks Dev Li with her wonderful edits that kept my writing grounded. Thanks also to O'Donoghue who let me know when my writing has gotten, in his words, "meh." Thanks for your wonderful reviews. Please feel free to leave more. You guys are the best.


	13. Chapter 13

It was almost two in the morning and Ryoga was lying on the Tendo's kitchen counter. The coolness of the Formica helped to relieve the ache in his gut. "No more, Ranma. I can't take any more," Ryoga groaned, as his hand passed over his distended belly.

"Come on, Ryoga, man up. What kind of martial artist are you? We've only been at this a couple of hours," Ranma groused, wiping some sweat off his brow. Ryoga turned his head listlessly to look at his rival. When Ranma said a couple of hours he really meant five. Ryoga tried not to feel bitter that Ranma wasn't more tired, considering how he'd been working his upper body, specifically his right arm.

The night had started out so promising for Ryoga. He had found his way to Akane's room, by some miracle, and then she changed into that outfit. His mouth unconsciously dropped open and his eyes glazed over as he remembered how sparkly and tiny everything was. He was definitely going to make sure that she kept that for later… just in case he ever worked up the courage to tell her how he felt. Yeah, that outfit would be perfect for when she tumbled into his arms after his overdue confession. He was quickly brought back to the present by Ranma flicking him in the face with a kitchen towel.

Grabbing his stinging cheek he sat up. "What was that for?"

"Stop it," Ranma scowled.

"Stop what?" Ryoga tried to look innocent.

"Stop thinking about Akane." Ranma aimed another dark look in his direction.

"Who says I'm thinking about Akane?" Ryoga spluttered, defensively.

Shooting Ryoga a dry look he said condescendingly, "I can see you thinking it."

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. How can you _see_ what I'm thinking?"

"Shut up! I just know. Come on we need to get back to work," Ranma turned his attention back to the book on the counter as he attempted to shake the ache out of his shoulders and right arm.

Moaning piteously, Ryoga dropped his head into his hands, "Why are we doing this again?"

Ranma sighed and looked at Ryoga. "You know why, and if I see you thinking about it again I'll do more than flick you with a towel." Seeing Akane in that outfit made Ranma realize that there was no way he could let Akane perform that dance with Hiroshi. He wasn't even sure what kind of a dance it was, but if the outfit was any indication there was a good chance that Akane would be pregnant by the end of it.

Ryoga had spilled the beans as soon as he emerged from the warm water in the furo. He told Ranma all about Hiroshi picking the costume and what he could remember of what Akane said. It didn't take Ranma long to decide that Hiroshi needed to be stopped. If Akane didn't have a partner she couldn't dance, and then there would be no need for the costume. Unfortunately for Ranma, he had given Akane his word that he wouldn't interfere, which was why Ranma hadn't punted Ryoga to the other side of town. He needed Ryoga to be his cover, and if the need arose, to take the fall if Akane caught on to what they were doing.

Sitting in the tea room with Ryoga after everyone went to bed, Ranma cooked up his latest plan and now five hours later they were still working on it.

Finally he looked at Ryoga. "It's no use," he said breathlessly, leaning up against the pantry. "Nothing I do will ever make my cookies taste like Akane's. I'm just too damned good of a cook."

Sighing in relief, Ryoga laid back down on the counter. Ranma had insisted that there be no evidence of their scheming and so Ryoga had been given the directive to eat every failed attempt to put their plan in action.

The plan itself seemed more inane and full of holes by the minute. The idea was to non-lethally poison Hiroshi by making cookies a la Akane. She always managed to incapacitate without killing. The biggest problem was that Ranma couldn't make cookies like Akane. Every batch of cookies, no matter how absurd the ingredients, seemed to taste good. Even the chocolate chip wasabi cookies were wonderful; the spiciness of the wasabi somehow deepened the flavor, bringing out the richness of the chocolate. Eight dozen cookies later, it was, Ryoga concluded, Ranma's stupidest plan ever.

"I hate to say this, Ryoga, but you're gonna have to go upstairs and convince Akane to make you cookies today, this morning in fact."

"Why does it have to be today?" He groaned.

"Because the dance competition is tomorrow and we need Hiroshi out of the picture," Ranma hissed.

"I don't understand why we don't just steal the costume and blame it on Happosai."

There was a very pregnant pause in which Ranma said nothing.

"You didn't even think of that did you?" accused Ryoga.

"Don't be ridiculous," scoffed Ranma. "Of course I thought of it. I just know Akane would see right through something like that," he unconvincingly protested.

What Ranma couldn't admit was that in his mind Hiroshi needed to be punished for even thinking of Akane in that costume. The fact that he had picked it out with her in mind made Ranma's blood boil even more. He'd never had a chance to have the talk he'd intended with Hiroshi and the costume was an obvious result.

Ryoga's plaintive voice pulled him from his vengeful thoughts. "Why don't you just ask her for the cookies?"

"Because she knows there is no way I would ever willingly ask for anything she calls food."

Ryoga lifted his eyes, a longstanding bitterness gleaming in them. "I don't know why she puts up with you. Fine I'll ask, but remember I'm not doing this to help you. I'm doing it to keep Akane from making a huge mistake."

Satisfied that he'd won the argument for the time being, Ranma benignly replied, "I never thought any differently."

ooOOoo

Akane jolted awake when someone pounded on her door shortly after dawn. Stumbling to the door she jerked it open expecting to at least find the house on fire, but seeing Ryoga stopped her short.

"Ryoga?" She questioned, squinting her still bleary eyes at him.

For a moment Ryoga stood completely still; captivated by the disheveled, sleepy girl who was staring at him with such a look of sweet befuddlement, that he forgot the reason he had even come to see her. Then a sharp pain in the back of his head caused him to come out of his stupor. Reaching his hand back he felt a growing bump; something must have hit him. Looking around he found a 10 yen piece on the floor. Scowling, he looked both directions down the hallway and saw no sign of Ranma anywhere. He turned his attention back to Akane.

"Akane," he tittered nervously tapping the tips of his fingers together, "I was wondering if you would make me some cookies this morning?"

Still blinking the sleep out of her eyes she slowly tilted her head until it rested against her hand holding the open door.

"You want me to bake you cookies at…" she leaned back slightly, and looked at the digital numbers on her clock, "5:37 in the morning?"

Giggling a little he smiled sappily at her. "Oh is it that early? I had no idea. I didn't mean to wake you." Ryoga began to nervously trace her name on the doorframe with his finger. "If you are too busy or another day would work better…"

He stopped abruptly as a stabbing pain from his back stole his breath. A pointy chopstick dropped at his feet. He gritted his teeth. "I mean, I really need your cookies today."

Disbelief crossed her features. "You need _my_ cookies?" Her eyebrows were raised to her hairline. "I don't know, Ryoga, I really have a lot to do today. The school dance competition is tomorrow and I have an afternoon rehearsal, plus I'm needed at the clinic today..." Akane trailed off. The day to meet Dr. Tofu's cohorts was upon her and she had no idea of how to convince him to stay. If Dr. Tofu wasn't on her side there was no way she was going to be able to persuade perfect strangers to take her in his stead.

Closing his eyes Ryoga attempted to think of someway to convince her when he heard something and quickly turned around to intercept Ranma's next attack. What he wasn't ready for was the weight of the object hitting him in the stomach. His arms automatically wrapped around the object and he was propelled backwards into Akane's room stumbling over a cord and crashing into the corner of her room. Akane stared at him in shock.

"You brought me a toaster oven? Do you really need my cookies that badly?"

Too humiliated and furious with Ranma to speak, Ryoga struggled to his feet trying to hold on to the oven and simultaneously brush off the scattered debris that had landed on him when he fell. The last thing he picked up was a battered scroll and he handed it to Akane trying to maintain his dignity as he kicked stuffed animals out of his way.

"Does this mean that you'll do it?" he asked pulling a stuffed squid off the top of the oven and tossing it on the floor.

Akane didn't answer. She was completely absorbed by the scroll in her hand. Was it possible that she had her answer all along and didn't realize it? Would it work? Could it work? Could she do it? A thrill of excitement coursed through her body. This was her answer, it had to be! It was meant to be. Why else would Ryoga be here in her room, handing her the solution to her biggest problem?

"Uh, Akane?" Blinking she remembered that Ryoga was still standing in her room waiting for some cookies. He was even holding an oven. How could she not repay him?

"I would love to help you." Her voice was so full of genuine warmth and gratitude that Ryoga was momentarily dazzled. Walking back over to the door she stood by it and waited for him to leave. "I'll be right down as soon as I'm dressed," she chirped, happily.

"Oh, er, right," he said backing out of the room with a silly grin on his face. When the door shut he hugged the toaster oven tighter to his chest and let out a sentimental sigh as he watched her duck nameplate sway against the door.

As soon as he was sure it was safe, Ranma was at Ryoga's side. "What did you say to her to make her change her mind?"

"Please, Ranma, give me some credit." Haughtily, Ryoga turned down the hall. "I'll be in the kitchen with Akane. Don't bother us."

Astounded at Ryoga's stupidity, Ranma watched him walk into the upstairs storage closet.

ooOOoo

After she finished the cookies for Ryoga, Akane dashed down to Mr. Izumi's. He'd called yesterday to say the arm braces were finished. She tried not to feel guilty that the cookies hadn't been her best effort, but she had so much to do today she couldn't possibly focus on baking. Ryoga was always such a good sport about her cooking that she knew even if they didn't turn out he would still eat them. Mr. Izumi handed her the embossed arm braces and reflexively she thanked him. Her mind was so full of what was going to happen at Dr. Tofu's today that he couldn't help but notice her distraction.

"Are you ok today, Akane?" he kindly asked.

"Yes. No. I'm nervous I guess."

"What are you nervous about? Anything I can help with?" She smiled at the sweet old man.

"I don't think so, but thanks for the offer." Hugging the arm braces to her chest she made her way to the door, but then she stopped and turned. "Mr. Izumi, if you were looking to give someone a job, what could they say to you that would make you hire them?"

"Ah, do you have some kind of interview today?" She nodded. "Well I suppose I would want to hear that they were willing to do the work they were given no matter how trivial or unimportant it might seem. It would also impress me if they could convince me that they are as passionate about the success of my shop as I am."

Akane was quiet for a moment as she absorbed this information. Then giving him a quick bow she exited the shop and made for home. It seemed like good advice. Everything was falling into place this morning and Akane mentally checked off everything she needed to do. Find a way to keep Dr. Tofu in town; that was done. Think of things she could say that would impress her potential bosses; Mr. Izumi had just given her some good advice. Find something professional and impressive to wear; that was not done and she was going to need some help.

Entering the house she saw Kasumi and greeted her.

"Oh, Akane, I'm so glad you're here. Today we're supposed to be working on jealousy," Kasumi smiled placidly at her sister

"That's right. I forgot." She dropped her head back and closed her upturned eyes. "Look can we do it this evening? I've got to be at the clinic in an hour or so."

"Sure, Akane. I have some other errands to run today as well." Noticing the package in Akane's hands she asked, "Can I take that for you?" and gestured at the package.

"That'd be great; they're for Ranma's birthday."

"Do you want me to wrap them?" Kasumi asked peaking inside the package.

"That would be such a big help. Thank you so much. I have so much to do and that would just be one less thing on my list," Akane explained. "Oh, do you think I could borrow some of your clothes?"

"Sure, if you want, but they wouldn't fit you as well as Nabiki's. You two are closer in size then we are."

"Is she home?"

"Yes, I believe she's upstairs in her room."

"Thanks, Kasumi."

Walking up the stairs she realized this was going to be an expensive endeavor, but if anyone could make her look like a woman to be taken seriously it was Nabiki.

ooOOoo

She smoothed her hands down the side of her hips and turned in the mirror with her back arched so she could see the back of her outfit. She checked her makeup, spritzed on some of her signature orange blossom perfume, took a deep breath, and went to find her sister for final approval. Nabiki was in her room reading something complicated and financial looking.

"Well?" Akane asked tentatively

"Hmmm," Nabiki said, her eyes traveling over her sister critically. Nabiki took in every detail of her sister's appearance, starting at the top. She looked at the red combs that held the short hair back. Her eyes traveled down to the makeup that had been inexpertly applied and made a mental note to fix it. She looked at the short sleeved black silk shirt that was modest but still left no doubt that Akane was no longer an awkward 16 year old girl, and she wondered again how her sister's fiancé could think that Akane had a flat chest. She took in the matching pencil skirt that hit her sister mid-calf and looked down the rest of her legs.

"Turn," Nabiki commanded.

Akane obliged.

"You know sis, you forgot the most import part." And with that she left the room only to return again with a red belt. She looped it around her sister's waist and cinched it tight. This had the desired effect of making her waist look tiny while giving definition to the other curves that her sister had in spades.  
"There, that takes care of the clothes. Now come and sit down while I fix your makeup."

Akane obeyed a little reluctantly. "Ok, you can fix it, but don't put any more on. I don't want to look like Shampoo or anything."

Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at her sister and gave her a tissue. "You have lipstick on your tooth." She pulled out some eye makeup remover and commented, "With your brown eyes you really shouldn't wear this shade. Close."

Akane closed her eyes and inwardly winced. She knew how much of a tomboy she was, heaven knows that she heard it ten times a day, but it still stung her pride that her sister had to point it out.

"For as much as you're charging me, that's all the advice you have?"

"Touchy aren't you? Well let's keep your temper in check because I charge extra for grumpy clients."

Akane quickly apologized and sat still while her eyes were being worked on.

"You know," said Nabiki thoughtfully, 'if you are going to be interviewed by a guy maybe you should turn your skirt sideways so that the slit is on the side."

"Nabiki!" Akane blurted out. "I couldn't do that. Besides I want the job based on my abilities not the size of my thighs." Even though she didn't mean to, a little bitterness had seeped into her voice and Nabiki instantly picked up on it.

"Well, I wouldn't take any of Ranma's statements at face value," Nabiki replied in a voice that barely hid her amusement. "There, all done. And now the final touch." She handed Akane a pair of red high heels and said, "These will make or break the outfit. Try them on here so I know if we should switch the red out for black."

Akane slipped on the shoes and then asked for some tissue to put in the toes. Sitting down, she put in the tissue and stood up again to look in the mirror. The reflection showed a woman sheathed in black with splashes of red. The high heels made her legs seem so much longer. Her posture was also improved with the shoes, and her upfronts seemed much more…upfront. She blushed a little at that, but was secretly pleased. She gasped, "Nabiki how did you-I mean look at me! I look grown up! How did you do that with my eyes?"

Nabiki smiled. "Look, it's in my best interest to help you get this job because if you have a regular source of income, so do I."

"Thanks, Nabiki," Akane said dryly. Having failed to tell her sister that she was only trying to get this job because she wanted Dr. Tofu to stay in town, she saw no reason to disabuse her of her idea that this job was about money. She gave her sister a quick hug. "I better go. I still have my regular hours to work before I meet with the Doctors about the job. Tell Kasumi to hold a plate for me, but I don't think I'll be home in time to eat with the family."

"Good luck," Nabiki said as her sister walked down the hall. She took one last look and laughed to herself. She could only guess what Ranma would say about her sister's thighs if he saw her in that outfit.

ooOOoo

Ranma was, at that moment, running along the fence in a desperate attempt to get away from Kodachi. She'd spotted Ryoga and Ranma making their way back from their cookie delivery at Hiroshi's, and had been chasing him for the better part of two hours. He was looking for a place to hide and found an alley that he quickly darted down. He decided that behind the dumpster was the best place to hide. Ranma crouched down and tried to quiet his breathing when he heard a small noise behind him. He turned around and his eyes widened in fear. "A c..c..cat!" He shrieked and sprinted out of the alley, slamming into Kodachi just as she ran past. They rolled two times, Ranma ending up on top. Her head hit the ground with a sickening thud, her incessant cackling stopping abruptly as her eyes rolled up in her head. Ranma's head shot up to get his bearings and to see if the cat was still nearby. When he glanced around he saw a pair of red high heels attached to a pair of shapely calves right by his head. He looked up already knowing who the legs were attached to-he'd stolen enough glances at them. "Hey, Akane. It's not what it looks like."

"It never is with you Ranma Saotome." Stepping over the two prone figures she continued on her way to the clinic, looking at an open scroll in her hands.

"Wha…?" Ranma asked slightly dazed at the turn of events. "You're not gonna hit me?"

Snapping the scroll closed she turned around. "I paid Nabiki an obscene amount of money to get my hair and makeup to look like this; I couldn't possibly afford to mess it up. Not even for the satisfaction of my fist in your face. Besides, I saw the collision and the cat that came out of the alley. It seems you actually have a reasonable explanation for lying on top of a girl for once," she finished with a pointed glance and a small "humph."

Ranma realized for the first time that he was in the middle of the street sprawled on top of a woman wearing nothing but a leotard. He blushed furiously and jumped up embarrassed and angry. Akane crouched down and lifted an eyelid of the unconscious girl.

"You better bring her with me," she said. "I'm on my way to work and Dr. Tofu can have a look at her." With that she stood up and started to walk towards the clinic.

Although it had been many weeks since Akane had so much as laid a finger on him, it was still a little disconcerting when she handled things calmly. Puzzled he watched his fiancée walk down the street and finally his brain registered her appearance. His eyes widened and his heart beat a little faster, which was saying a lot because he was still trying to calm down from the cat. She was walking away from him, her hips swaying, and the slit in her skirt was showing him just enough leg to make him want to imagine the rest of it. He had always thought Akane was cute despite what his fat mouth constantly said, but today she wasn't cute at all. She looked… he gulped… sexy, powerful, alluring. If there was anyone in the world who had no business looking like that, it was Akane, not that she didn't have the figure for it. He'd looked at her body enough over the past two years to know that she had definitely grown up. No, Akane's problem was that she was completely oblivious to the effect she had on boys. Putting her in silk and red high heels was only going to compound the problem tenfold. He scooped up Kodachi and ran after his fiancée.

"Hey, Akane, did you say you were going to work? Did Dr. Tofu get a new dress code or something?"

Akane gave him a sideways look and didn't answer right away. She wasn't sure what to say. She felt like she looked good and she was hoping some of that would come across in her interview giving her the confidence that she needed, but if there was any person in this whole world who could pop that bubble it was Ranma. It wasn't as though she didn't want him to notice her appearance, she did. Akane just wished for once he could look without a snide comment. She shook her head, that wasn't right either. She wished he would look and be struck dumb by her beauty. A small smile played at her lips at the thought, but it vanished when Ranma said, "Hey dummy, I'm talking to you. What's with the clothes?"

Akane turned her head to face Ranma, and he had to blink a few times. "What happened to your eyes? I mean you don't usually look like this," he said perhaps a little more out of breath then carrying Kodachi warranted.

"Ugh, Ranma, I knew you would find a way to insult me. Look I really don't have time for this today," Akane irritably replied.

"Insult you! I was just trying to figure out what's going on. If I wanted to insult you I would have said something about your cooking or mentioned why uncute girls like you shouldn't dress up in their sister's clothes," he replied angrily.

Akane turned and stalked off again, his comments stinging her more than he could know, and left Ranma behind with a million unanswered questions.

He followed in silence for a while and then caught up. "Akane, are you going to tell me what you're doing all dressed up?" he asked, his tone more subdued.

Akane hesitated. She knew that if she told him he would just inform her why she wasn't suitable for the job she was interviewing for, but at the same time she wanted to tell him because, in a twisted sort of way, he was her best friend and friends told each other this kind of thing. "If I tell you, you promise you won't say one thing to me about it?" Her voice carried a bit of a threat, but not enough to cover the uncertainty.

"Why, wha…"

"Not one thing to me," she cut him off, her voice implacable. "Not until today is over. Those are my conditions."

"Fine, I promise." The impatience was apparent in his tone.

"I'm meeting with some friends of Dr. Tofu's. They might have a job for me, and I am interested in getting it." At his disbelieving look she half-heartedly added, "It's the opportunity of a lifetime."

Ranma didn't respond right away. Shifting the limp body to his left side because his right arm was still sore he mulled over her words.

"Don't you wanna work at the clinic anymore?" It was the first and only thing he could think of.

"This job wouldn't be at the clinic or any clinic. I'd have a chance to travel and do some good for the world."

Ranma stopped so abruptly that Kodachi's head snapped forward and lolled around at an unnatural angle, "Travel? Around Tokyo?"

"I imagine that we'll spend some time in Tokyo. I couldn't say. I don't have time to go into details right now." She saw him open his mouth and quickly cut him off. "We're here; let me get the door for you, Ranma." Before he could respond to the idea that she might be leaving the city she shoved him into the waiting room.

Stepping into Dr. Tofu's clinic caused his jaw to drop. There were no less than 30 boys sitting in the waiting room-all of them from his school. When he stepped in the room they looked up hopefully, but upon seeing Ranma their eyes managed to look everywhere but him. They can't possibly be this stupid, he thought and then Akane stepped around him. The collective breath that was drawn sucked all the air out of the already overcrowded room. Ranma remembered the black skirt and red heels. "Oh Lord," Ranma inwardly moaned. The crowd took a step forward, but Ranma gave them a look that would have frozen lava, and they retreated to their previous positions.

"Akane, where should I put her?"

"Room 4 it's the third on the left. I'll go tell Dr. Tofu that I am here and he'll be right in."

Ranma carried Kodachi down the hall and laid her on the bed in the exam room. He didn't know if he should leave or hang out. Kodachi was still out cold and Ranma studied her for a moment wondering where she kept that ribbon in her leotard. Several places came to mind and Ranma mentally vowed to avoid ever being touched by it again.

"Dr. Tofu! I'm here for work. Ranma brought in an unconscious Kodachi and I had him put her in room 4."

"OK. Thanks, Akane. Did you see the waiting room? It's good business to have you around," he chuckled at her predicament. She glared at him, and then said, "Don't get used to it, seeing as I won't be here next year," she gloated.

"Akane we've been over this. There's nothing else to be done."

"That's where you're wrong Dr. Tofu. I have the solution to our problem right here." With a dramatic flourish she produced the scroll and handed it to him.

He read the scroll and began to talk softly to himself. "I've heard of this…it could work…" Hope lit his features, but then he took a deep breath and said, "No, Akane, I couldn't ask that of you. Kasumi is your sister and she values you. I wouldn't destroy that for her. Plus this is much more advanced than just healing. It's one thing to give portions of your ki. It's another to try to remove portions of someone else's."

Akane could have kicked him in the shins for being so noble. "Dr. Tofu there's no reason to say that I'm going to react the same way as you do to Kasumi. I have a whole lifetime of good memories to counter act anything I might take from you. Please. I know it's advanced, but let me try."

Looking deeply into his eyes she could see that she almost had him. It was time to be ruthless. One didn't live with Nabiki and not know how to manipulate a little. Softly Akane said, "She wants you; She's waiting for you." And with that Dr. Tofu allowed himself to tumble over the cliff and hope for his future for the first time in months.

"OK, Akane, we'll try it."

Squealing in delight she threw her arms around him. "It's going to work, I just know it. I'll come back tonight after dance rehearsal and we'll do it. It's going to be so wonderful!"

"Is this your protégée?" a voice from the doorway asked with eyebrows raised.

Dr. Tofu sprang out of his chair and warmly greeted the man. "Dr. Gifu," he said bowing. "It is my great honor and privilege to introduce Tendo Akane. She is very interested in taking my place on the upcoming mission."

Dr. Gifu turned and introduced his colleague. "Dr. Tofu, Ms. Tendo, this is Itou Masa, he's training with me on this trip." Masa was almost as tall as Dr. Tofu and looked to be in his early to mid twenties. He had brown eyes framed by long lashes and what would have been a good looking face, except it was marred by a look of extreme impatience. Akane offered him a small smile, which he returned with an eyeroll and an even deeper scowl.

Dr. Tofu and Akane bowed. "We'll let's not waste time. Akane is quite capable and I can't wait to show off her abilities. In fact we have the perfect patient in room 4 if you'd like to see a demonstration of her remarkable talent."

Dr. Gifu smiled at both Dr. Tofu and Akane, "If you taught her, Tofu, I can't help but think she will be wonderful." A small derisive noise escaped from Masa. Dr. Gifu frowned at him. Cheerily he said, "Pay him no mind. Come show me what you can do, I'm sure it will be remarkable. Certainly," he said, with a pointed look at Dr. Itou, "worth all of our time. Lead the way, young lady."

Turning her back on the grumpy younger man, Akane beamed at the men and led them from the room.

ooOOoo

"Who the hell does she think she is?" Ranma muttered stalking his way towards the school. His mood was sour as he reflected on the last hour of his life. Because of the mass amounts of testosterone sitting in Dr. Tofu's waiting area, Ranma felt compelled to hang around the clinic. That and he wanted to catch a glimpse of the doctors that Akane said she would be meeting with. So far he hadn't seen the doctors nor had he heard a word of their conversation, and he was dying to find out where Akane would be working. Dr. Tofu would tell him what this job was really about. She said that she didn't have time to explain things, but Ranma couldn't shake the feeling that she was shutting him out just like she did with the healing.

She wasn't leaving Tokyo he reassured himself. She still had another year of school. There was no way her dad would let her leave. Plus she said she promised to get Tofu and Kasumi together and she had to be in Nermia to do it. These thoughts made him feel marginally better, but there were still niggling doubts. Damn Rina for showing up and dragging him outside the clinic before he learned anything.

"Ranma Saotome, I have a few things I need to discuss with you." Ranma heard Rina's voice but he was intent on watching Akane, Dr. Tofu, an elderly man, and a younger man he didn't recognize as they moved into the more private area of the clinic, so he ignored her. Until she kicked him in the back of the knees and he was forced to turn around and pay attention to her.

"I was saying that I got a call from Hiroshi today. It seems he is suffering from acute abdominal distress."

Ranma started to sweat, but put an indifferent mask on his face. He could bluff his way through this.

"Yesterday he was perfectly fine; the doctors think it must have been something he ate. He said the only thing he'd eaten was a plate of cookies that Tendo Kasumi made for him." She eyed him suspiciously. "The funny thing is everyone knows that Kasumi is one of the best cooks in the district. I can't imagine anything Kasumi touched making anyone sick." She paused for effect. "I went over to see him and see if there was anything I could do for him. I wanted to know if he would be in shape to compete tomorrow. The doctor said it would be a bad idea until the toxicology reports come back. He suspects some kind of poison."

The look on her face was innocent enough, but her eyes were boring into his. He smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. She continued, "Hiroshi said that he ate some cookies from Akane, but they were made by Kasumi. Everybody knows what a disaster Akane is in the kitchen. He swore to me that if he had any idea Akane baked the cookies he never would have eaten them, but since the note said Kasumi made them he thought it was safe." To his horror she pulled out the note that Ranma made Ryoga write earlier that morning.

_Hiroshi, here are some cookies to wish you good luck tomorrow.—Akane _

Ryoga's tidy hand crossed the paper in a clean line. Underneath the initial message in a messier and obviously different handwriting was a postscript. One that Ranma himself added, because not even Hiroshi was stupid enough to eat anything Akane cooked. He'd seen the effects of her cooking too many times.

_I didn't make these Kasumi did, so they are safe._

Ranma decided not to incriminate himself so he stayed silent. Rina wasn't fooled for a moment. Casually waving the note in front of her face like a fan, she looked over the top of the paper and said, "I wonder if Akane would recognize the handwriting."

"I'm sure she would, as it must be hers," Ranma croaked out around his dry throat. Rina had the same predatory look about her as Nabiki, just before she did something cruel and painful, and it scared him.

Changing the subject Rina asked, "Do you know how important this competition is for me?"

Ranma shook his head.

"Very. I need this competition to be part of my portfolio for university. I can't have some unfortunate…illness messing this up for me."

Skittishly he asked, "What do you want from me?"

Rina looked at him appraisingly, "I'm down one dancer and I need a replacement. You're quick to learn, athletic, and not bad looking. You're going to replace Hiroshi, seeing as I strongly suspect it's your fault he won't be dancing."

Ranma paused for a moment then said, "I don't know how you can prove that I had anything to do with those cookies." He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

"That's true, but I'm meeting up with Akane later and I am sure she could shed some light on the situation."

Ranma was internally debating what to do. There was no way Rina knew about his promise not to interfere, but was it worth the risk of having her actually talk to Akane and show her the note? Akane would recognize his handwriting and she would put two and two together. Technically he hadn't done anything but add a postscript to Ryoga's note, and show him the way to Hiroshi's house, and keep the idiot from eating the cookies himself. In his mind that was far from interfering, but he wasn't sure Akane would see it that way. In fact he was sure she would have the exact opposite reaction, which is why he was here sweating it out in front of Rina. Normally pissing off Akane wasn't a huge concern for him. She spent a good portion of her life mad at him, but things were so shaky and he was so uncertain…

"Fine," he bit out.

Rina smiled happily at him. She cheerily pocketed the note and dusted her hands off as if she had just finished a difficult task. "Great! Practice is at 4:00 pm in the dance room. I'll see you there."

Ranma glared at her back as she left the clinic. Setting his jaw he wondered if there was anyone in the district that wasn't trying to get something out of him.

* * *

Hey all, I didn't give up I was just busy doing other things for the last 10 months. Thanks so much to Tuatara, Word Doc and SakuraJade for helping me with this chapter. I know it was a long time coming. Thanks to those that emailed me and encouraged me. As always if you review I will send you a preview of the next chapter. Up next: Akane uses the scroll, Kasumi takes more notes and the Amazons join in the fun.


	14. Chapter 14

Ranma paused in front of the dance room. He could hear music playing through the closed door. He took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself to do battle with Akane. She was going to flip when she saw him. What was a scheme to punish Hiroshi and keep Akane from overexposing herself, seemed to have turned around and bitten him in the ass. Ranma knew he was going to have to give the performance of a lifetime if he was ever going to convince Akane that he had nothing to do with the dance partner switch. He peeked around the corner and saw Akane practicing her solo dance. She was doing a modified kata. Ranma watched her intently. She was so graceful here in her element. She really did love The Art. She may not be as good as him, but there was no denying her passion for it. It never ceased to amaze him how fluid and graceful she could be when anger wasn't making her choppy and clumsy. His chest tightened, she looked more out of reach now then she did in her red high heels, but that didn't stop him from being drawn into the room.

He stood silently, eyes following her figure around the room. Akane was so absorbed in the music that she didn't even notice him, but Rina did. She made her way silently over to him.

"If you say one word to screw this up I will make your life so miserable you will think your fiancée problems are a cakewalk," Rina's harsh voice whispered. "She has this number down, and if you make her doubt herself by opening your fat mouth…"

"Like Akane listens to anything I say anyway," he mumbled back, not taking his eyes off his fiancée.

Rina turned and looked at him with surprise written all over her face. "You're joking right, Saotome?"

Suddenly a little unsure of himself, he looked over at Rina and whispered, "What? I've known her for years; she blows off everything I say."

Shaking her head, Rina muttered, "All these years I thought she was being too harsh, but he really is an idiot."

"Hey, I heard that," was Ranma's indignant whisper. He turned away from Rina and gave his attention back to Akane. A look of peace and self-satisfaction was etched on her features.

She had this dance down for tomorrow. She loved this dance. She loved moving her body to the music. It was freeing and she was happy to escape for the three and half minutes. There was the challenge of hitting all the right steps, making the next extension longer then the next and knowing the only person she had to beat in this dance was herself. Spinning to the final notes, she ended the dance and stood breathing hard with sweat coming down her face. Her eyes traveled to the mirror and locked with Ranma's.

Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she looked questioningly at him. "Did you need something?"

Ranma, who didn't have time to come up with a good story as to why he was there, opened his mouth, and when no words came out he shut it, only to open it again.

"Nice, Ranma," Akane said, sarcastically.

Rina stepped forward. "He's your new partner. Hiroshi is in the hospital, having his stomach pumped. He apparently ate something that didn't agree with him. Not only was he violently ill, but he started having visions and composing limericks about red bean paste. Clearly whatever he ate is affecting his mind as well. He won't be able to dance."

Akane was stunned. She had nothing to say, or more precisely, she had so much to say that the words got all bottled up in her throat. How could this have happened? It was too much of a coincidence that Ranma was here ready to dance.

Turning to Ranma, with eyes narrowed in suspicion, she asked, "No one is going to be seeing China this time. Why are you here, really?"

"I asked him, knowing he would be a quick study," Rina jumped in when she saw Ranma's guilty expression.

"But," Akane said weakly, eyes drifting to her friend, "I thought you wanted to win?" She was thinking of the destruction that would ensue when Ranma's other fiancées found out they would be dancing together. It was more than plausible that the dance competition would be ruined before it could even be judged, but before she could explain that to Rina, Ranma interrupted.

"Hey!" Ranma exclaimed, "What's that supposed to mean? I could be blind, deaf and dumb, and I would still be able to learn the steps to this stupid dance."

"That's not what I meant! If it's so stupid, why are you here?" Akane shot back. "You should have told her no when she asked."

"Akane," Rina stepped in, "We need him at this point. You're just going to have to accept it. Who else could do this on such short notice?"

Silently, Akane racked her brain for anyone she could dance with besides Ranma. Frantically her mind latched onto Ryoga, and she wondered if he was still at her house.

"I have another friend who might work," she offered desperately.

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "And just who might that be?" he growled.

Defiantly she answered, "Ryoga."

"Hell no, Akane," Ranma blurted.

Rina's face scrunched up in concentration. "Is he the boy with the bandana?" She nodded thoughtfully, keeping an eye on Ranma's reaction. "That could work. He'd look really good in the costume without his shirt on."

Both Ranma and Akane ceased glaring at each other and whipped their heads around. "The male lead doesn't wear a shirt?" Akane squeaked. She had been so concerned about her costume that she hadn't even considered what the boy would be wearing.

A muscle in Ranma's jaw twitched as he thought about Akane dancing in that costume with a shirtless anyone. He couldn't wait for Hiroshi to get better, as far as he was concerned the boy didn't even know the meaning of visions…yet.

"Ok," Rina shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm game. Where is he?"

"Yeah, Akane," Ranma said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Where is he?"

"He could still be at the house," she protested defensively.

"You mean you don't know how to get a hold of him? Why are we wasting our time talking about this?" Rina threw her hands up in the air in a gesture that bespoke her exasperation.

Akane was so frustrated. She was actively trying to avoid Ranma. She was trying to move on with things in her life, and he was making it so hard not to fall back into patterns she was trying to alter. It would be so easy just to keep things on the same path, especially with him standing before her; tempting her to throw in the towel on all the changes she was trying to make in her life. Why did he have to be so…ubiquitous? She knew in her mind that this dance would be fundamentally better because it was Ranma now dancing. He was so very good at these kinds of things and he made her better when they worked together. The problem was that they never got to work together. Something or someone always got in the way. It made her so angry; angry at the world for getting in the way of her life, and angry with Ranma for somehow wheedling his way into this after she told him to butt out.

"What's the matter, Akane, worried you won't be able to keep up with me?" Ranma goaded.

"Akane, why don't you go and get a drink of water and change into your rehearsal skirt, while I fill Ranma in?" Rina suggested, staving off the confrontation she knew was going to happen. She knew exactly what she was doing when she asked Akane to dance with the company. If Akane danced so would Ranma. Everyone who knew anything about the couple could see that they couldn't stand to see each other with another. Sure it had been a little tricky getting everyone where she wanted them. Akane was so adamant that Ranma not be her partner, and it was very disappointing when Ranma didn't make any attempt to try out. Hiroshi was a good enough partner, but there was something lacking. When Hiroshi turned up sick today, Rina, who was skilled enough at manipulation, knew it wasn't by chance. Confronting Ranma today about the note had been a last ditch effort on her part, and she was so happy when she saw the fear in his eyes. For whatever reason, he didn't want Akane to know about the note, and she was going to exploit that secret for all it was worth.

Rina explained the steps of the dance to Ranma and how he was supposed to move while Akane got a drink and changed.

"16 counts to move around the circle and try to make contact. I can only enter the circle if I am touching her, I got it," he said, watching Akane cross the room wearing some sort of knee length swishy black skirt. She stopped in the middle of the giant circle on the floor with her hands on her hips looking disgruntled.

Ignoring Akane's expression, Rina rubbed her hands together and briskly said, "We have a lot to do. Let's listen to the music so Ranma has some idea. Akane you know the music and I expect you to make this easy for him. No bullying him the way you did Hiroshi." Ranma snorted and Akane glared at him in response. It was a slow kind of Latin beat that picked up in tempo and intensity as the song progressed. Akane, who had heard the song dozens of times, started to review her steps. It was going to be really difficult to keep Ranma from touching her, but she had two things on her side. She was safe in the knowledge that Ranma didn't want to touch her, so any attempts on his part would be half-hearted at best, and she'd seen him fight enough to know that he could be thrown off his game, she just had to figure out how.

Tersely she said, "Let's get this over with."

"Fine by me," he shot back while walking in to the circle until he was standing in front of her. "I didn't ask for this, and I wouldn't even be here if Rina hadn't…" He stopped himself just in time.

"If Rina hadn't what?" she growled.

"Nothing," he mumbled turning away. "I just owe her a favor."

Rina stepped in front of the bickering couple and planted her hands on her hips. Glaring at them she announced, "Look you two, I know you have issues, all of Nerima knows you have issues, but I need you to lay them aside for now. I don't care if you don't like each other. In fact, I don't care about anything other than winning this competition, and if you don't play nice I will kill you both – martial artists or not. Got it?"

Ranma and Akane stood looking at Rina in wide eyed silence, until Ranma leaned over and whispered, "She scares me."

Akane nodded, "In some ways she's just like Nabiki."

Having finished her rant, she spoke in a calmer tone of voice, "So now you know how the dance works. Let's see if you can do it without killing each other."

When neither of them moved, Rina shouted, "Now."

They both scurried to their starting positions and the music started. Rina watched in satisfaction as Ranma immediately picked up on the beat and performed his steps flawlessly. Akane missed her cue as she was watching Ranma in admiration, admiration for how good he looked and for how quickly he caught on. When he did things like this, there was always a primitive part of her that wanted to shout out to the world, _See that! He's my fiancé._ Of course she'd be laughed off the island if she acted on that impulse, so Akane buried that particular urge deep inside. He moved so effortlessly with an ease that bespoke confidence and control. For her, it was an irresistible combination, and her heart picked up without her having taken a step. Rina had it all wrong. Oh, sure Ryoga was nice enough, but Ranma without a shirt was really something. She was brought back to focus when Rina threw a water bottle at her head and it connected painfully. "Get moving, Tendo," she barked, and restarted the music.

Ranma sniggered as Akane stood motionless in the circle until he caught her eye and saw the look in it. It was a look directed at him unexpectedly filled with such heat that he was suddenly the one caught off guard. He came to an immediate stop in order to look deeper into her eyes. It was a look he had seen many times from Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi, but not often from Akane, and it stopped him in his tracks, leaving him breathless and questioning if he saw the reality of things or just what he wanted to see.

Shaking her now bruised head Akane reasoned with herself. So what if he was attractive? She was still going to show him that it took more than big muscles and stormy eyes to throw her off her game. All the things that weighed on her mind about the job, Dr. Tofu, and Kasumi, they all faded as she unconsciously fell back into the habit of proving herself to Ranma. She was going to beat him at this game. Eyes smoldering, she turned to face her opponent, and then she moved.

The drums of the music pounded and Akane took four steps back; four long lingering, hip swaying steps. She drew her hand across her waist and into the air where she circled her wrist in a slow almost lazy movement. This exposed a small band of skin where her shirt rose with her arm. Spinning, her skirt flared out exposing the tops of her legs as she took two more steps nearer to the inside edge of the circle. When Ranma wasn't there to reach out and grab her Akane threw a confused look over her shoulder. Why was he just standing there? Unconsciously a small smile of triumph crossed her lips. She cocked her eyebrow in an unspoken challenge. He obviously wasn't as quick to pick up the steps as he thought.

When the music started again and she moved, Ranma was unprepared for the sway in her hips, for the flash of white skin of her abdomen, and for the way the skirt moved around her legs. _Who the hell taught her to move like that?_ he wondered. He felt like his feet were encased in cement, and even if he wanted to move he couldn't simply because he was so busy watching her do something he'd never seen from her before. After watching her body move for a moment, he looked up into her eyes, hoping to see some of the heat from before, but all he was met with was a provoking smile that begged to be removed, and Ranma was helpless to do anything but answer her call.

It was that little smile that spurred Ranma to action. No way was he going to let Akane get the better of him. He wasn't going to give her an inch. Something feral in him came to life. It had been almost two years since he claimed her as his own in the ice skating match, and in that two years his feelings had only deepened with each harrowing experience. She was his, and here in this dance room she was challenging that. It was time that she was reminded that her place was with him; not with Dr. Tofu, not with Ryoga or Hiroshi, and not with some group of doctors halfway around the world, that was for damned sure. In a flash he was around the circle and catching Akane by the wrist, taking three big steps into the circle, forcing her to back up. She quick stepped back and tried to wrench her arm out of his grip only to be jerked towards him. When her momentum stopped, she was only millimeters from him as he towered over her; not touching her anywhere except his firm grip on her wrist. A small flicker of light was between their bodies and both of them were breathing hard, more from emotion than exertion. Time slowed to a crawl as he stared down at her and she glared up at him. Both of them came out of their stupor when Rina stopped the music.

"Ranma, that was too fast. You can't go barreling into the circle like that. This dance needs to last for 4 more minutes."

"Huh?" he said, turning from Akane to Rina.

"I said, draw the dance out. The goal is to get into the circle, but not until the end of the dance."

"Right," he replied, turning back to a fuming Akane, who had stepped away from him. She again tried to wrench her wrist out of his grasp and he held firm, maintaining eye contact as he finally let go one finger at a time just to annoy her. "Draw it out," he drawled. "I can do that."

Once again the music started and Akane started to move, but this time Ranma was focused and with every pivot and turn she made he was there anticipating every place she was going to be. Not entering the circle and not touching her, but making damn sure she knew he was only refraining because he could. It was easy. As an opponent she was quite predictable, which was a good thing because the way she was sashaying around the center of the circle was extremely distracting.

Akane huffed around the circle. Every move she made was stopped short by Ranma, and if that wasn't infuriating enough, he wasn't touching her. He made no attempt to enter her circle, which meant she couldn't strike out at him.

"Ranma!" she growled under her breath. He heard her and at last he could see his tomboy. She wasn't the distant young woman of the last few weeks. She looked like she was going to pound the snot out of him and his heart rejoiced, until he realized he was happy about getting beat by Akane, and then he worried for a moment that he might really be the pervert she accused him of.

"Ok, Ranma, now you can start to touch her and move into the circle," Rina instructed.

He watched as Akane started to back away from him towards the center of the circle, out of arm's reach. _Oh no you don't_, he thought and gracefully vaulted into the circle, flipping over Akane with one hand on her shoulder, landing in front of her. Immediately Akane took a swing at him, which he easily dodged, and just because he knew it would enrage her, he dragged his hand up her arm as he passed by her. Throwing out her elbow she spun quickly and kicked out her leg. Ranma stopped her kick with his hand and shoved her leg back in the opposite direction, causing Akane to spin around like a top, and he trailed his fingers around her waist as she spun. Planting both her feet and making a noise of pure frustration, she shouted, "Will you stop touching me, you pervert!"

"You know the rules, I gotta be touching you if I'm gonna stay in your circle," Ranma chimed smugly.

Making a furious noise in the back of her throat she threw an uppercut. Ranma caught her fist and jerked her towards him so that she could see his satisfied smile. Throwing a wild hook with her other hand, Ranma waited until her arm crossed her body and caught her other fist then, without letting go of her crossed arms, he flipped over her head and pulled her back into his chest so that her own arms were wrapped around her waist, securely held in place by his hands at her hips.

"Let me go! Get out of my circle!" she raged.

Riding high on the tide of familiar territory, Ranma couldn't resist taunting her. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he could only imagine her face as he mockingly chided, "Come on, Akane, don't forget your dance steps," before using his foot to urge her forward in perfect time with the music. Twisting her body she tried to break his hold, then she tried to stomp on his foot as he forced her own legs to move in time with the music.

Seeing this interaction Rina couldn't help but cheer as the music came to a stop. This was exactly what she was looking for; the savageness of the dance demanded two strong personalities and it was perfect. She called out, "Ranma, I couldn't have planned it better! For someone who doesn't want to be engaged to her, you sure made short work of her defenses. That was the best. If we were in the Amazon she'd have to submit to you now. I've never seen a better mating dance."

Ranma, who had left his head down by Akane's ear partly to make her mad and partly because he liked it, quickly lifted his head. "Mating dance? What are you talking about?" Flustered by the idea of the story the dance seemed to imply, he forgot he was currently holding a very angry, very violent Akane. With a quick move she head butted Ranma on the chin with the back of her head. He loosened his grip enough for her to break away, and before he could clear his watering eyes, she kicked him hard in the chest, sending him across the room and into the wall. Quickly Akane gathered her stuff and walked over to the boy sitting in a crater in the drywall.

"I said, stay out of my circle," Akane threatened, before leaving the dance room with a resounding slam of the door.

Slowly Rina made her way across the room. Leaning in she casually addressed Ranma, "I don't know what you did to make her so mad, but if you could do it again tomorrow in the competition it would really make for an interesting number." With that she turned to gather her music and things.

On her way out the door, Rina heard Ranma ask, "Is it really a mating dance?"

"Yup," she smiled. "You know how it works, proud warrior woman turns down every man trying to court her, just waiting for the man strong enough to beat her. Then when he does, she pledges her undying devotion, love, and fidelity."

Pulling himself out of the hole in the wall he wondered, as he dusted the sheetrock out of his hair, why that was the story of all the women in his life except Akane.

ooOOoo

Storming to Dr. Tofu's Akane couldn't decide who she was angrier with, Ranma or herself. Try as she might, she couldn't banish his smug face or his taunting words. He'd had her in his arms again and his whole focus was on making her look like an idiot. Why couldn't he just like her enough to enjoy holding her? As soon as she finished the thought she was angry with herself for even thinking it. _Could I be any more cliché? ARGGGGGH!_ With her thoughts in turmoil she attempted to rein them in and focus on the task at hand. If there was any chance that this extraction was going to be successful, she was going to have to quiet her mind. She took some deep breaths and tried to focus her thoughts on pleasant things like helping Kasumi, but her brain was churning and the only thought that kept coming to the surface was that she didn't want to be humiliated in front of all those people. Dancing with Ranma was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had promised Rina that she would help with the competition. Maybe if she was lucky she would sprain her ankle again and have to bow out. Briefly she hung her head, when did she become such a coward? When did she stoop to running away from and avoiding her problems? Soon enough the feelings of shame passed as she thought of her problems and no clear solution. Mumbling to herself she justified her desire for avoidance as the Saotome Secret Technique.

Opening the door to the back room of the clinic she called out, "Dr. Tofu! I'm here."

"Akane, I'm glad to see you. I think things went really well this afternoon. Dr. Gifu was quite impressed. He seemed just as happy to have either of us go. Why don't you have a seat?" He turned his attention back to the tea he was preparing.

Akane noticed the scroll was rolled loosely on the low table. She knelt down and took it in her hand and started to study it. She hoped this was going to work. Her mind was still spinning and she knew that she wasn't calm enough to focus her ki the way she needed. Taking deep breaths, Akane tried to center herself and forget about how aggravating Ranma was.

Tofu came into the room. Silently he set the tea service down and allowed Akane to pour. As wrapped up as Akane was in her own thoughts, she didn't see the tension or notice the good doctor's eerie silence. It wasn't until they had both drained their tea and Akane asked him if he wanted more that she noticed how quiet the room was.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, her voice filling the still air.

Looking away from her he replied, "I don't think I can ask you to do this, Akane. Kasumi is your sister, and I can't ask you to take this from me. It wouldn't be fair."

Exasperated with the whole day, with Ranma, with Rina, with Tofu, with the craziness that was her life, she unleashed herself on the unsuspecting doctor. "We've been over this! I want to do this! I want Kasumi to have a conversation with you that doesn't end up with you and Betty in a back alley wearing Fezzes and an odd assortment of gold chains."

"That only happened one time…" the doctor protested, but Akane cut him off and kept ranting.

"I want her to be able to be with the man she loves even though he is crazy. I want you and Kasumi to get married and to have a dozen kids before her ovaries shrivel up and fall out of her body. I want you to be happy and with the person you love. You have a shot at it, an honest to goodness shot at it. Do you know how many people would love to be in your shoes? If you throw it away so help me, Dr. Tofu, I don't think I will ever forgive you!"

If the silence before was still, it was now deafening. Akane glared up at him with her arms crossed.

"Um…ok…Akane, you win." he said haltingly, then with more emotion, "Let's do this."

He turned, kneeling down in front of her, and she quietly murmured, "Thank you."

She unrolled the scroll and used the empty teacups to weigh down the edges so that she could see the diagrams and instructions. Firmly she placed two fingers on each side of his temples and concentrated. Projecting her ki out into Dr. Tofu she started to sort through his aura looking for his fear of Kasumi. It only took her moments to realize that she was out of her depth. She had never looked at anyone's aura, nor did she have any idea what his fear of Kasumi would look like in aura form.

Dropping her hands by her sides she confessed to Dr. Tofu, "I don't know what it looks like."

"I…ah…of course you don't. We've never done anything like this before. I guess I got carried away in the moment. Maybe I can walk you through it," he offered hopefully.

An hour and a half later Akane could barely lift her arms. She was soaked in sweat from head to toe, and so drained that the last time she attempted to find Dr. Tofu's fear she actually started to see spots.

"I think we should call it a night." Dr. Tofu said. Turning around he got his first real look at Akane." No, I know we should call it a night, Akane. You need to go home and go to bed, you look wasted."

"Please, Dr. Tofu, you don't understand, I can do this," she protested, stubbornly, wearily.

With a gentle smile Dr. Tofu replied, "I know you can do this, with a little more practice, but not tonight. What kind of a teacher would I be if I let you overdo it?" He gracefully rose and put both hands gently on her shoulders. "Do you need help getting home?"

"No." With shaky limbs and a weak smile she gathered her stuff. Having changed back into the clothes she was wearing earlier, it was a matter of gathering up the high heels and putting them on.

"I'll be back tomorrow. I promise we'll get this."

"I know you will give it your best," he said encouragingly, but Akane could see he didn't really think she'd be able to do it. She wasn't so sure she could do it either.

Too tired to lift her arm for her customary wave, Akane stumbled out of the clinic. The walk home seemed impossibly long. Realizing the high heels were taking way more energy then she had, she removed them and let them dangle from her fingers as she listlessly made her way home. Akane decided the park was a perfect place to rest, and she slumped into the swings as twilight deepened around her. Digging her big toe in the soft sand under the swing, she twisted gently back and forth mulling over her problems.

If she was honest with herself, she'd have to admit that, even if she had a month, there was a chance she wouldn't be able to locate, much less remove, that part of Dr. Tofu's aura. Auras were terribly complicated business; what's more, she didn't have a month. She had two days and one of those days was already halfway eaten up with the dance competition, so really she had one and a half days. Her head drooped in defeat. Akane knew that there were only two options open to her, she could give it her best over the next day and a half and hope for a miracle, or she could ask for help.

There was only one place the help could come from, and it would come with a price. Bile rose in her throat as she realized the humiliation of humbling herself to Cologne, but what were her choices? She was effectively backed into a corner. She had no more time. It was help Kasumi now, or lose Dr. Tofu. She could sacrifice her pride, especially for Kasumi, but whatever they wanted from her was going to be to Ranma's detriment. Could she put Kasumi before Ranma? Would he forgive her for doing that to him? Could she throw him under the bus like that? The only other time she'd done something like this, was when he told her he didn't want to look at her breasts, and she almost gave him away to his mother. Later she'd felt horrible and didn't relish the thought of doing it again.

If Ranma had just kept his stupid promise he wouldn't be in this situation. It's not like Shampoo wasn't going to show up anyway and try to dance with him. She'd seen it a million times, and didn't want to see it anymore. It was a weak justification and she knew it. Akane also had to admit to herself that this wasn't just about Kasumi and Tofu. She wanted to leave with the doctors, she wanted to get away from Shampoo and Ukyo and…Ranma. Maybe there were other options, but she was just too tired to think of them. With a resigned sigh she rose from the swing. The Amazons would not give their help for free; she just hoped that it was a price she would be willing to pay.

Dully she made her way home to get the costume for the dance. It would be her bargaining chip. Heaven only knew what Ranma would do to her when he realized that she was setting him up to dance a mating dance with Shampoo. If she was lucky, by the time he got around to getting his hands on her she'd be out of the country with Dr. Tofu's friends.

The thought gave her little comfort.

ooOOoo

Mousse was surprised to see an all but spent Akane make her way to the doorway of the café.

"Is Cologne around?" Akane looked around the café, sluggishly. "I need her."

"Sure, Akane Tendo, I can get her for you. Why don't you sit down?" Mousse offered her a chair. She gracelessly sunk into it.

"Thanks, I'm beat."

Walking to the back of the café Mousse called to Cologne. She emerged and he gestured to Akane, who was resting her head on her arms. A self-satisfied smile crossed Cologne's lips and she picked her way across the restaurant to the girl. Balanced effortlessly on her staff and trying to contain her smirk she inquired casually, "You asked to see me, Akane Tendo?"

Akane reached into the bag at her feet. The look on her face was that of someone who had swallowed something unpleasant going down and had just realized it was about to be more unpleasant coming up. With trembling fingers she presented Cologne with the scroll.

"I…I…need your help," she choked out, and in an even smaller voice, said, "Please."

Cologne took the scroll; there was no need to unroll it. Tapping it thoughtfully against her chin she looked at the girl in front of her. Cologne was no stranger to being humbled in front of an enemy. One didn't become an Amazon Elder by winning all the battles, just the most important ones. A small part of her felt sympathy to see her proud foe asking for help, but it was a very small part. Mostly, Cologne was eager to take advantage of the situation.

"Why should I help you? I offered to teach you this technique weeks ago."

"I know…"

Cologne hit her on the head with her staff. "Don't interrupt! You flatly refused my offer and now you come back here asking for help. Again I ask, why should I help you?"

It took every ounce of will power Akane had not to turn around and walk out the door. If it hadn't been for Kasumi's sake, she would have left without a backwards glance. In fact, Akane was so focused on thinking of Kasumi that she didn't respond immediately, earning her another whack on the head. Deciding the best defense was a good offense Akane scooted her chair out of reach and decided to lead the way in the negotiations.

"I can help Shampoo get a date with Ranma," Akane blurted. Reaching into the bag, she plopped down the mass of feathers and crystals on the table. "I'm supposed to dance with Ranma tomorrow in a competition, this is the costume. If you help me, I will cede my spot to Shampoo."

Cologne wasn't stupid. She knew that more had happened in China then either Mousse or Shampoo had told her. She was also very aware that Ranma had made himself scarce over the last few months, and not even the temptation of a free meal was luring him to the café. His feelings for Shampoo had obviously curdled a little, and this dance could be a way to find their way back into his good graces.

"Who do you want to use this technique on?" Cologne asked, poking about in the costume.

"Dr. Tofu, he has a fear of my sister…I want to remove that fear."

"Do you even know how to recognize fear in an aura?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be here," Akane said, through gritted teeth. "Do we have a deal or not?"

"This technique can take weeks to learn," Cologne nonchalantly examined the tip of her staff, "are you going to be committed enough to learn it?"

"I don't have time to learn it. That's why I need your help. I need you to find the fear and then help me extract it."

Cologne had to keep from cackling in glee. Not only was she giving her granddaughter a chance with her son-in-law, but Akane wasn't even going to bother learning Amazon secrets in exchange.

"What time and where is this dance competition?" Cologne smiled and the deal was sealed.

Despite the fact that she had successfully negotiated what she wanted, Akane felt no better. There was nothing satisfying about taking advantage of Ranma like this. She almost reconsidered, but stopped. She couldn't tell if it was her concern for Kasumi, her worry for herself, or a small part of her that wanted revenge on Ranma for encroaching on her dance competition that kept her mouth closed. She didn't delve too deeply, and she didn't want to.

"9:00am at the Furinkan High gym." Lifting her leaden body out of the chair, she said, "You better call Shampoo out here so I can show her how the dance works."

Cologne noticed Akane's movements. "How long were you trying to extract from Dr. Tofu today?"

"About an hour and a half."

"And you are still standing. That _is _impressive. I can see that I have been misjudging your strength."

"I'm tired, too tired for games. Please just call Shampoo and let's get this over with." Cologne wordlessly gestured to Mousse and in moments Shampoo emerged from the back room.

"You call great grandmother?"

"Yes, Shampoo. Akane Tendo has offered her services to help you date with Ranma."

"Shampoo need no help with Ranma, not from girl who no can cook."

That was it for Akane. She was too tired and too uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Forget it Cologne. I'll figure something else out. Tofu can teach me. Just 'cause I couldn't do it earlier doesn't mean I won't learn it." She stuffed the feathers back in her bag and stood to leave.

Quickly Cologne thwapped Shampoo in the head and told her to shut up before hopping over on her staff to placate Akane.

"Of course we want to take you up on your generous offer. Shampoo will be happy to learn anything you want to teach her." Cologne then hopped over to Shampoo and gave her a violent shove in Akane's direction.

"Mousse! Clear this area of tables so these girls have room to move." Chains shot out of Mousse's sleeves and wrapped around two tables that still had people sitting at them, and jerked them out of the way.

"Hey! That was our dinner!"

Before they could make too much of a fuss, Cologne gave them orders to go and with a rushed "Thank you come again," hustled them out the door.

"Mousse, I need music." Out of his sleeve shot a gramophone, an eight track player and a cassette player.

Akane couldn't help but be impressed. "Um…something with a Latin beat. Thanks, Mousse." He beamed at her, he was so rarely thanked.

"I have just the thing, Akane Tendo." He pulled out an eight track and stuck it in the player and soon Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass were belting out of speakers from somewhere in the back of his robes.

"Um, that's not quite what I was looking for. What other music do you have?"

A revolving tape holder was pulled out of his left sleeve. Akane sorted through it until she found something that she thought would work. As Mousse cued the music she drew a circle on the ground and explained the dance to Shampoo; who had in the meantime been exploring the costume with greedy fingers.

"Is for me?"

"Yup. It's all yours and you can keep it after this is over."

"Good, flat-chested girl no do it justice."

Sighing Akane got to work teaching Shampoo the dance. Soon the café closed, and through the well lit windows, the shadows of two dancing girls could be seen swaying on the walls.

ooOOoo

It was after midnight and there was still no sign of Akane. Ranma was near frantic. He'd already harassed Yuka and Saiyuri until they had convinced him they had no idea where she was. Nabiki, his pops, and Mr. Tendo were all asleep. Only Kasumi and Ranma were awake, keeping vigil. Ranma wasn't actually keeping vigil. He kept leaving the house to go and look for her every time he thought of somewhere else she could be. Dr. Tofu had sent her home hours ago and offered to help in the search, but Ranma assured him that it wasn't necessary yet.

He'd been racking his brain for somewhere else she could be when he heard a scuffling outside the gates. He was up in a shot and opening the gates before Kasumi had even risen from the table. His stomach dropped to his feet when he saw an unconscious Akane in Mousse's arms.

"What the hell did you do to her?" he snarled, reaching out his arms to take her.

Mousse had enjoyed walking through the dark streets with Akane. She was light and smelled really good. Sure he loved Shampoo, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy looking at and holding a pretty girl. The thought surprised him. He rarely thought of any girl as… well that was it, he rarely thought of any girls at all, except Shampoo. When Ranma reached out to take Akane, Mousse hesitated for just a moment, but it was enough.

Through clenched teeth, Ranma commanded, "Give her to me now."

Hesitantly Mousse handed Akane over to Ranma who gathered her in close, lifting her face up to his so he could feel her breath on his cheek. When he was reassured that she was well he turned his fierce glare back on Mousse.

Holding his hands up in a gesture of innocence and defense, Mouse said, "She's just sleeping, I swear it! She showed up at the café tonight already exhausted, and proceeded to work with Cologne and Shampoo until she fell asleep at a table. All I did was carry her home."

"If I find out you're lying and Shampoo has done something to her, I will make Shampoo pay," he threatened, hugging Akane closer to his chest.

"You don't frighten me, Saotome," Mousse retorted, his glasses shining in the yard lights. Reaching out his hand, he smoothed Akane's hair out of her face. Ranma, who didn't expect the move, jerked Akane out of reach too late.

The two boys glared at each other, the only sounds breaking the tense silence were the crickets chirping and the scratch of Kasumi's pencil across the page of a notebook. Both boys turned to look at her as she furiously wrote. When she finally looked up it was with a sweet smile. "Oh, am I interrupting? Please just ignore me and go back to what you were doing."

"What are you doing, Kasumi?" Ranma asked, but he was only mildly curious, most of his attention was focused on Mousse and the dawning realization that this was another complication he didn't need in his life.

"Umm…I am making…observations about the weather. You know, barometric pressure…It's fascinating. Well, um, good night," Kasumi sang out sweetly, turned on her heel and left, the color high in her cheeks.

There was a moment of silence as both boys looked after her, confused. Finally, with a smirk that made Ranma want to punch his face in Mousse said, "I didn't have to bring her home you know. We have an extra bed at the café. Goodnight Satome." He turned and melted into the darkness.

Ranma couldn't imagine how crazy he'd have been by morning if Akane had failed to show up without word. He buried his face in her neck and slowly moved into the light so he could examine her for injuries. She looked…completely worn out. Her hair was clumped together as if it had been wet and dried. She was in the same clothes that had taken his breath away earlier in the day, but now even they looked wilted. He frowned at all the outside forces that were making demands on her. Tomorrow was the dance competition and when that was over there would be one less thing on her plate. His protective instincts screamed that he tie her to the bed so she couldn't dance tomorrow. She needed a rest and if he had to carry her home from the competition kicking and screaming, he was going to see she got one. Looking at her tenderly, he decided that battle could wait and he would just enjoy holding her, knowing she was safe with him.

"Do you think you could get her up to bed?" Kasumi whispered in his ear, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"No problem. I can get her in bed, you go to sleep," Ranma replied. She was so small and light. He didn't get to hold her like this very often. He'd held her a lot of times, but not without anyone chasing them or attacking them and certainly not in the quiet of the night. He slowed his steps down so he could enjoy the feeling of Akane in his arms. He was just stepping onto the bottom step when she sleepily opened her eyes.

"Ranma?" Her voice was soft, questioning his reality versus her dreams.

"Yeah, Akane?" he softly whispered back.

"Mmmmm….you're real," she said, languidly. Turning her head into his chest she burrowed deeper into his arms and made a sort of purring noise that made his chest vibrate in a pleasant way. He lifted her a little higher on his chest and bent his head to smell her hair. It was soft against his cheek. Slowly making his way upstairs he opened the door to her room with his foot. Doing a quick scan for P-chan he gently deposited Akane on her bed. Quietly he shut her door and smiled at it for a moment.

He was surprised to turn around and see Kasumi standing nearby with a notebook in her hands. Rubbing the back of his head he tried to cover his embarrassment for being caught staring sappily at Akane's door. "I thought you went to bed."

"Oh, I'm on my way." She smiled kind of goofily at Ranma. "Is there anything that girl can't do? Even in her sleep. On to phase three."

"Huh?"

"You know, when Akane tries to help someone she really gives it her all. I can't imagine anyone else coming home unconscious just to help me."

"Kasumi, you're not making any sense."

"I know; it's a girl thing. It's late. Goodnight, Ranma. I'll see you in the morning." This time she went into her room and shut the door.

Ranma told himself it was just for his piece of mind, and he opened Akane's bedroom door to check on her. She had rolled over onto her stomach and hitched one knee up. This caused the slit in her skirt to slide up her thigh. Ranma swallowed hard and looked around to see if anyone could see him. When he was satisfied that he was unobserved, he grinned and took in the view for a moment. He loved her legs. With a very male smile on his face he shut her door again. How was it possible for one girl to be so sweet, sexy, and stupid all at the same time?

* * *

Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay. Thanks for your patience and those of you who sent me PM's over the last months encouraging me to get on with things. Next up: The dance competition (finally), Akane keeps her promise to Dr. Tofu and...well the release of all the tension I have been building up to. Don't forget to leave me a review and I will send you a preview (I wrote some funny stuff for you)


	15. Chapter 15

Hippocrates 15

Ranma watched as Akane stumbled into the breakfast room. She was still wearing the same clothes from the day before, and her hair was sticking up in back. Her skirt was twisted around backwards – the slit in the front, half of her shirt was untucked, and a button over her stomach had come undone. The makeup Nabiki had carefully applied the day before had been smeared all over her face and undoubtedly her pillowcase was covered in it. Weaving to her spot, she sank down heavily and wrapped her hands around the warm teacup Kasumi had placed before her.

Nabiki took in the scene and drily remarked, "Walk of shame, huh? I didn't think you the type, but Kasumi told me you came home in Mousse's arms."

"Is that how I got home?" Akane croaked.

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Knock it off, Nabiki. You know Mousse only has eyes for Shampoo."

"Yes, well, we all know how poor his vision is; perhaps he is starting to see things clearly," Nabiki calmly commented with a face devoid of expression, but her eyes were taking in Ranma's reaction.

Ranma scowled into his breakfast, which was only halfway eaten. Akane's arrival seemed to have taken his mind off his food.

"Yes," Kasumi chimed. "Last night she was absolutely wonderful. I've never seen anything like it." Everyone at the table looked at her as she got up to get Akane some soup and pickles. Her good mood enhanced by how well her plans for Dr. Tofu were progressing.

"What were you doing with Mousse last night?" Mr. Tendo's voice carried across the table.

"Nothing, I was at the café and I fell asleep. He must have brought me home."

"Ranma," Mr. Satome barked, "have you left your fiancée so unsatisfied that she has turned to Mousse? I know I taught you better than that!"

"No…." Ranma tried to jump in, but his mother forestalled him. "How terribly unmanly."

Both men stopped arguing and looked at Nodoka, who was pulling out her katana.

"This is your fault," Ranma accused his father out the side of his mouth.

"How is it my fault your woman is unfulfilled?" Genma muttered back.

Ranma reached out and punched his pops in the face.

"Enough!" Nodoka's katana came down perilously between the two men. Glaring at her husband, she turned to Ranma. "Perhaps I was wrong to trust this aspect of your education to your father. I for one can testify of how little he knows of what women like in these matters."

Soun choked and dived behind his paper, Ranma gaped at his mother, and his father turned red and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth. Nabiki whispered something under her breath which sounded suspiciously like, "Well done, Auntie."

Akane stood up and, with a look of compassion in Ranma's direction, she address his mother. "I can assure you, Ranma is as manly as he has always been. I have nothingof which I can complain. Please excuse me." With that she turned and left the room, satisfied his life was no longer in danger. A small twinge of guilt filled her as she met his panic filled eyes, but this was information she didn't need, and it wouldn't kill him to learn a little more about women.

ooOOoo

An hour later Ranma was walking next to a silent Akane. In an effort to break the heavy silence and to introduce the topic of her overworking herself, he said, "You look like shit, Akane."

"Thank you very much, Ranma," she tightly replied.

"Ah come on, that's not what I meant. I just meant you're workin' too hard. Would it kill you to ease up a little? Today this dance thing will be over, and as long as you don't go doing something stupid, like volunteering for something else, you can rest a little."

"Yeah, I'll be relieved when today is over," she sighed.

"So, did you, uh…" He stumbled over his words, cursing his inability to use them. "I, uh, didn't see your costume in your bag."

She closed her eyes, all morning she had been debating as to whether she should give him a heads up about the Shampoo situation.

"No, my costume isn't in my bag. What about you, Mr. Shirtless? What else does she have you wearing?"

"I'm not taking off my shirt. I don't care what she says," he huffed, a sour look crossing his face. Akane smiled briefly at his petulance.

They continued walking in silence for a little while longer; Ranma surreptitiously studying Akane as she walked in front of him. The usual bounce to her step was gone as was her unconscious humming. He didn't even know if she realized she hummed as she walked, but Ranma secretly thought it was adorable, unless he was mad at her, then it was just annoying.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to this, Akane?" Ranma eye's roamed over her face taking in the lines of weariness.

"Sure, who knows what Rina has in her bag of tricks to cover up the worst of my looks."

"Akane, that's not what I meant!" Ranma loudly protested outside the stage door.

"It's ok, Ranma, really. I be able to do my dance, don't worry." Akane said with one hand on the door.

"You mean dances?" he asked grimly.

"Yup. That's what I meant. I'll see you on stage. I have to perform my other number first." She and Ranma parted ways at the dressing rooms. Once the door was safely shut behind her, she slumped down and mumbled to herself, "You're such a coward, Akane Tendo."

ooOOoo

Ranma watched Akane with something resembling awe. From the wings of the stage with the heavy curtains blocking out the audience, it was easier to concentrate on her. She wore a simple outfit, a black shirt and black yoga pants. He loved those pants and desperately hoped that she got to keep them. As she finished her last move, the audience roared in approval. His heart swelled with pride. He could see her blinding smile directed at the audience as she bowed. She was so, so good with people. They just flocked to her. He watched her all the time trying to figure out how she did it. There was just something about Akane. People looked at her and wanted to be her friend. It wasn't something he could learn, he'd tried. Sure he had friends, but there was always an aloofness between them. People were curious about him, but not really curious enough to get to know him. With the exceptions of Akane , Ukyo, and possibly Ryoga; he wouldn't really say he had a lot of close friends. That was one of the reasons he loved to watch Akane in situations like this. She just shone. He wasn't surprised the audience loved her. She could have flubbed up the dance completely and they would still cheer for her just because she was Akane. It was one of the things he loved about her; she possessed abilities that he could never hope to have.

She slipped off stage on the opposite wing, and Ranma assumed she was going to change her costume. He tried to calm his stomach at the thought of it. He watched as the corps of other dancers performed another number. He was mindlessly engaged in watching them when Rina sidled up next to him.

"You're not going to mess this up for me, are you, Saotome?"

"Nope, I just want this over with."

"Akane was pretty fabulous with her first number. I'm thinking about asking her to permanently join the team."

Without a pause, Ranma firmly said, "No."

"Why?"

"Because Akane is an idiot who doesn't know how to take care of herself." Very slowly, and enunciating every word, he stated, "YOU. MAY. NOT. ASK. HER."

Slyly she looked at him. "Ok, give me your word that you will finish this dance. Even if your other fiancées come and trash the place, you will still finish. I want your word as a Martial Artist. If you finish the dance, I won't say anything to her, but if you skive off before it's over, all bets are off."

He shrugged. "Feh, it won't matter. I'll agree and give you my word, but I'm only doing it to make things easy on you. Akane is done dancing after today."

Rina looked at the stubborn set of his jaw and realized that she had reached her limit with this man. He would not be moved, and wisely she backed off.

ooOOoo

It was dark backstage. Ranma was waiting for his cue and he could only make out the silhouette of the figure standing in the middle of the circle in the center of the stage. There was no doubt about it. Akane was wearing that costume. Ranma frowned. He was disappointed. She usually wasn't much of an exhibitionist; those kinds of antics were much more Shampoo's style. The only thing he could do now was to dance in front of her the whole time so that the boys in the audience didn't get an eyeful. They were going to have to have a serious talk when this was over. In the case of this costume, anything did not go.

The narrator explained the dance and Ranma walked out onto the stage positioning himself in front of Akane. The lights started to come up and he heard a voice that wasn't Akane's.

"Arien! Move! Is my big, big, entrance," she preened.

Ranma almost laughed in relief and instinctively moved. It wasn't Akane in the costume, it was Shampoo, and she could expose herself for all he cared. _Wait a minute, _his head whipped around, _Shampoo! Where was Akane? _His eyes went up to the scaffolding in case Cologne had her trussed up there.

He immediately started to walk off the stage when he saw Rina standing in the wings, glaring at him. He rolled his eyes. _Fine_, he thought. _I'll finish this dance and pump Shampoo for information at the same time. Then I am outta here._

The music began and Shampoo started to move. A small chorus of wolf whistles came up from the crowd. She beamed, encouraged by the crowd, and added an extra sway to her hips. Ranma could understand why the crowd was whistling, Shampoo looked good in the costume, but other than a surface appreciation of something lovely, he was unmoved. He was just grateful that it wasn't Akane in the costume. Ranma began to move to the music. Swooping close to the edge of the circle and leaning in, he asked Shampoo where Akane was.

"Akane gone. Went with great grandmother."

Shampoo stepped closer to the edge of the circle within arm's reach of Ranma, but he didn't reach out or try to enter her circle. Spinning away he stepped out of her grasp and said, "Where did they go?"

"Don't know. Come here. Akane say you try touch Shampoo." She ran her own hand down her arm in a move that made the audience cheer and Ranma shudder.

"She did? When did she say that?" he asked, absently searching the crowd for a trace of Akane.

"Last night at restaurant."

"What was she doing at the café?" Ranma dodged Shampoo's arms as they came over the invisible boundaries of the circle she was in.

"Arien! It not matter." Shampoo slid gracefully across the floor to where he was.

"Humor me, Shampoo. What was Akane doing at your restaurant? Usually she avoids it."

"Don't know. Great grandmother and Akane talk. Akane traded dance and costume for favor from great grandmother.

Ranma stopped dancing. Shampoo reached out and caught him, pulling him into the circle in a move that made the audience roar. He stood like stone as she continued to maneuver around him like a human hula-hoop.

Akane didn't. She wouldn't. She knew how much he disliked Shampoo. It was flattering to have Shampoo around and he liked the attention, but that was before Phoenix Mountain. After seeing Shampoo so heartlessly threaten Akane's life, he couldn't stand her. Akane knew that his feelings towards Shampoo had hardened, why would she do this? Why would she put him in this position? His eyes searched the wings of the stage. She wasn't there. Scanning the audience he looked for her and spotted her just as she left out a side door with Cologne and Mousse. Mousse again!? Nabiki's words from this morning came back to him.

In a flash he regained himself, grabbed Shampoo by the wrist, and twisted around so her arm was pulled behind her back, not painfully, but enough to let Shampoo know he meant business. The audience cheered to see Ranma spring into action. From behind, harshly he whispered, "What did Akane need from Cologne? Where did they go?"

"I not know. Why Ranma be so rough? I not forget what pig boy said. Need to show Ranma a real woman." With that she turned her head and attempted to kiss Ranma, but he was too fast. He could hear the end of the music and whipped Shampoo around so all the audience could see was bobbing feathers and a flurry of limbs. They went wild. As the music came to a stop and the audience rose to its feet, Shampoo was the only one left on stage to bow; and bow she did, because it disguised the fact that Ranma had somehow tied her hands and feet up with the crystals from her costume.

ooOOoo

They were all in Dr. Tofu's office. Dr. Tofu and Cologne were talking quietly in the corner. Akane wasn't sure why Mousse kept looking over at her, but his intent stare was making her nervous. She was already a bit of a wreck from last night and then leaving the dance competition without telling either Rina or Ranma.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "What are you looking at?" she burst out.

Mousse pushed his glasses higher up on his face. "I'm in love with Shampoo."

"I know that," was Akane's confused reply.

"Good, I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that part."

"Perfectly, Mousse. I never thought any different."

"Akane, come here," Cologne called. Akane quickly moved to her side, relieved to have her odd conversation with Mousse over.

"Stand here and be ready. I'm going to bring Dr. Tofu's fear to the forefront of his mind so you can step in and extract it."

Akane stood nervously over Dr. Tofu as Cologne rested her hands at his temples. The room grew quiet as Cologne worked, and Akane's thoughts wandered to Ranma and how the dance competition was going.

Suddenly Cologne pulled her wrinkled hands back and questioningly looked at the back of Dr. Tofu's head. She then put her hands back on his head for a moment only to pull them away again. Confused, Akane looked at Dr. Tofu, who had a slight tinge of pink dusted across his cheeks. Finally Cologne cleared her throat and asked, "Dr. Tofu, do you have a curse?"

"He, he, he. You see that, do you?"

Akane looked first at Dr. Tofu and then at Cologne. She didn't know what was more amazing. That Dr. Tofu had a curse, or that Cologne could see and separate a curse from someone's aura.

"What kind of a curse is it, and how did you come by it? Will it harm me if I can't fully separate the curse from your fear?"

In a move that was reminiscent of Ranma, Dr. Tofu self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nothing that will harm you; really it's more of an embarrassment than anything else." Sighing he asked, "Do you really need the details?"

Cologne folded her arms across her chest and said, "Yes," then turning to Akane she said, "You didn't say anything to me about dealing with curses. If I had known I wouldn't have so readily agreed."

Interjecting, Dr. Tofu apologized, "She didn't know. I haven't told anyone about my curse."

Akane was stunned. What else didn't she know about Dr. Tofu? He was really starting to seem like someone who had a lot of baggage. Perhaps she should rethink the idea of matching him up with Kasumi.

The air in the room grew thick with anticipation as the beleaguered doctor worked up his courage. A breeze blew in from an open window and Akane shivered. She glanced at Mousse who was, thankfully, staring intently at Dr. Tofu. With a faraway look in the doctor's eyes, his voice broke the silence. "It was about 8 years ago. I was travelling with some friends of mine. We were doing a backpacking tour of Western Europe. I was young and inexperienced, and in one of the hostels we met an old, twisted woman. She had defected from Romania ten years before and was hiding out in the Pyrenees, until the fall of the Soviet Union. I had just finished medical school and would have much rather set up my practice, but I had promised my friend that we would take some time exploring the world. I wanted to go home, and so I wasn't in the best of moods when the cleaning woman came by. I admit that I was fairly unkind to her, but that doesn't excuse what she did to me," he added bitterly.

"She was trying to clean under the bunk in the hostel we were staying in and I thought she was rummaging through my stuff. I immobilized her with some pressure points, and in my very limited Spanish I accused her of being a thief. She was indignant and glaring at me. I patted her down to check for my possessions. When I realized that she didn't have any of my things, I released the pressure point that was holding her jaw closed. That was my fatal mistake. What I didn't know, and couldn't tell from looking at her, was that she was an old gypsy woman, with powers I couldn't comprehend at the time. As soon as I released her mouth she let out a string of Romanian that I didn't understand and then, despite my pressure points, she raised her right arm and pointed a gnarly finger at me. I felt a ripple of energy course through my body and it was done. The look of triumph in her beady yellow eyes haunts me to this day. She had cursed me with a gypsy curse, and after all this time, I have no cure."

The room remained silent. Cologne looked at the doctor thoughtfully, Mousse wore an expression of sympathetic camaraderie, and Akane was too flummoxed to do anything except look from one occupant in the room to another.

In a spectacular moment of tactlessness, Akane blurted, "So what's it do? Your curse, I mean. Do you have to be wet or something?"

Cologne cuffed her with her staff. "Show some sympathy to the poor man!"

Rubbing her head, Akane apologized and looked sheepish.

"So what does it do? Your curse?" Cologne asked. At Akane's drawn breath, she glared at the girl.

"What? I need to know for his aura, not vulgar curiosity," Cologne justified. It didn't stop Akane from glaring back.

It wasn't until they heard Dr. Tofu's voice mumbling that they broke eye contact.

"What was that?" Akane asked.

"I said she cursed me to sing songs from American musicals when I hear them. The music starts and I can't help but sing along. Not just sing, but belt out the tune with dancing and hand actions included. I was in a bar once in Singapore and _Oklahoma_ came on, and before I knew it, and not of my own volition, I was up on the bar belting out what a beautiful morning it was. I..." he stopped and shuddered, obviously reluctant to relive the memory.

"No!" Mousse whispered in horror.

Dr. Tofu turned his head away in shame.

In an attempt to make her friend feel better, Akane patted his back. "Um…What's so bad about that?" she asked. "It's not like you turn into a duck or a girl or anything." "It would be better if he did," Mousse muttered under his breath. Shooting him a look to shut him up she continued, "When do you even hear songs from American musicals here in Japan? It must be infrequent at best."

Cologne hit her again. "What is wrong with you? Have you no milk of human kindness in you? Can't you see this man has been suffering for eight years?"

"It's quite alright. I had hoped never to have to share these sordid details of my life, but Akane is right. It really is an infrequent occurrence," Dr. Tofu sighed.

"Is this something you want to take on as well?" Cologne addressed Akane.

"No, if I take on his curse, then you'll be the only person left in Nerima, that doesn't have one," Akane joked.

Cologne didn't smile; she didn't even look at Akane.

"Don't tell me, you've got a curse too?"

Cologne hung her head. A breeze blew in from the open window and this time instead of shivering Akane felt the urge to giggle at the silliness of it all. "It was a long time ago. I was traveling in the Caribbean, trying to master the art of Kiungo Cha Mkono, the art of fighting with shackled hands, when I came across an old woman who was selling plantains for an exorbitant amount. She told me they were magic plantains and I didn't believe her, nor would I pay her steep price. She insisted, and a loud discussion followed. She was quite insulting and in a fit of temper, not unlike my great grandaughter I knocker her plantains from her hand and stomped them into the ground tossing the price of a normal bunch of plantains at her feet. Before knew it, she lifted a gnarled finger in my direction and chanted words I didn't understand. I felt a ripple of energy course through my body and it was done. The look of triumph in her beady yellow eyes haunts me to this day. She had cursed me with a Voodoo curse, and after all this time, I have no cure."

Expelling a long breath, Akane said, "That's quite a story. A Voodoo curse, huh? Who knew there were so many easily provoked, vindictive, old, gnarled women running around this world?"

Both Dr. Tofu and Cologne looked a little sheepish.

Mouse asked, "What does your curse do?"

Thwapping him on the head, she replied, "Mind your own business. Alright then, let's get on with it."

Cologne put her hands on Dr. Tofu's temples and closed her eyes in concentration. Soon she was calling softly to Akane. With her eyes still closed, she gently reached for Akane's hands and placed them lightly next to hers.

"Use your chi. Do you see that pink part of his aura?"

"Yes" she breathed, and immediately tried to extract it with her ki.

"Stop you foolish, impulsive girl! The hot pink part is his curse. You can tell by the way that part of his aura shimmers and moves in a transverse wave as opposed to the longitudinal waves like the rest of his aura. The curse moves in a different direction because it's not a natural part of his aura."

Akane, embarrassed and ashamed for rushing ahead, tried to gather her wits and concentration again. In a moment she could see it. The rest of his aura was moving in an up down movement like someone shaking out a sheet, but his curse was undulating side to side like a snake. The curse was different from all the other parts of his aura. Now that Cologne had pointed it out, it seemed so obvious; she wondered how she hadn't noticed it before.

"Now, next to the curse is a small dark strand. That is his fear. Focus on it and use your chi to bring it into you. Picture yourself sending out your chi and then picture your chi hooking around that dark strand. Next, gently pull it back into yourself."

Akane was doing her very best to follow Cologne's directions. It was taking all of her concentration. She was sweating and shaking, but focused. Little by little she felt the dark strand start to move as her ki entwined around it. Gently pulling at both strands, she tried to urge them gradually back into herself. It was slow work. She found that if she tried to move the strands too quickly they would fray and break. Bit by bit she absorbed the strand into herself. As the last bits of the dark strand moved into her she began to see spots and feel her ears ringing. _Just a little more_, she thought.

All of a sudden the door to the office slammed open and Ranma shouted, "What the hell is going on in here?"

Akane's concentration snapped and the last thing she saw was the floor coming up to meet her.

ooOOoo

Ranma was fast, but not fast enough to catch Akane before Dr. Tofu did. Shooting Ranma a furious glare he bit out, "What are you doing barging in here like that, Ranma?! You could really hurt someone."

Ranma blanched, correctly interpreting "someone" as Akane.

"I…" he started, and then stopped when he realized that no one was paying attention to him anymore. All eyes were focused on Akane who was lying on the exam table.

In a low voice, Cologne said, "You really shouldn't have let her practice so much yesterday, Tofu. She is exhausted. I was surprised when she said she had been at it for an hour and a half."

"Akane is incredibly strong. She had been using her ki for weeks. I wasn't worried. A goodnights rest was all she really needed, and I knew she could get home safely."

"But," Colonge interjected, "she didn't go home and get a goodnights sleep. She came over to the café and worked with Shampoo until after midnight."

Dr. Tofu frowned at the unconscious girl on the table. They needed to have a talk if she was going to be this careless.

He placed his hands on her chest above her heart, and in a moment his ki was flowing into her. Cologne busied herself by wiping the sweat off Akane's brow and aimlessly straightening her clothes. When Dr. Tofu was finished, the four of them waited for Akane to wake up.

Cologne turned to Ranma. "What are you doing here, Son-in-law? I thought you were on a date with Shampoo?"

"She got tied up with the end of the competition. I guess she wanted to see if we won," Ranma answered not meeting their eyes.

Mousse's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What did you do to her, Saotome?"

"I danced with her and we had a chat, that's all. Why are you here and not watching your beloved Shampoo?" he snapped back.

"I thought I might be needed here," Mousse stammered throwing a confused glance at Akane. This just served to make Ranma angrier, and he stepped between Mousse and Akane. Then he turned his back on Mousse and gave his attention over to Akane.

At that moment, Akane's eyes opened. She rolled over on to her side and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Akane," Dr. Tofu called, moving into her field of vision, "how do you feel?"

She was silent for a moment taking stock of her person. Everything felt fine, her head didn't even hurt. Maybe she was a little tired, but certainly less tired then when she came to the clinic.

Dropping her legs off the edge of the table, she pushed herself up with one arm. "I feel pretty good. What happened there at the end?"

Cologne spoke up, "Just as you finished, your concentration was interrupted, and well, it's never a good thing to end those kinds of interactions so suddenly." There was a pregnant pause as Ranma shuffled his feet. "Akane Tendo, I am finished here. As short as Ranma's date was, I would say _my_ end of the bargain has been upheld. Come on Mousse, we better go find Shampoo." With a piercing look at Ranma, who blushed but didn't feel bad, they left.

Sitting up straighter, Akane looked around for one of Dr. Tofu's hundreds of pictures of Kasumi. Nabiki did a brisk business between both her sisters. "Did it work? Did you test it yet?" she asked excitedly.

"No, we didn't have a chance," Dr. Tofu said, putting a thermometer in her mouth. He lifted her wrist and took her pulse and looked into her eyes. He had just pulled the thermomter out of her mouth when he heard the phone ringing. "I think perhaps you should head home and get some rest. Ranma, can I trust you to make sure Akane actually makes it home?"

"Yeah sure," Ranma replied looking intently at Akane.

Dr. Tofu waved them off as he said hello to the speaker on the phone. "Oh, Dr. Gifu, it's nice to hear from you. I know you are leaving tomorrow morning. No, I'm not packed. No, Akane's not packed either. We are still working things out between us. Could you hold on one second?" With slightly shaking hands, Dr. Tofu pulled out a head shot of Kasumi looking stunning and smiling at the camera. He looked at it for a long moment. With an exultant smile he picked up the phone. "Dr. Gifu, it looks like Akane will be coming with you. Put her name on the tickets, and I'll go help her pack."

* * *

Pheeew! Sorry the chapter is a little shorter, but it means a quicker update! Thanks to SakuraJade for the preread. She does a great job and if this story is any good, a fair portion of it should be attributed to her. Well Akane has solved at least two of her major problems. Next up we see if there are any repercussions for Akane and she and Ranma do some communicating; loud, loud communicating about her trip. The good news is the next chapter is 85% complete, so hopefully I can update again in a month. Thanks for reading and more importantly reviewing!


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